Review by Greek_77

This whole trilogy did not impress me at all. Takeshi performs as good as always and the rest of the cast was good also. But generally, all three movies looked flat to me. I love a ton of shooting and a lot of yelling, but these three movies look like a ton of shooting and yelling, and not much of anything else. I reckon Takeshi wanted to make simply an entertaining film, that would probably be enjoyed by mainly Japanese audiences.

The plot in all three movies is basically the same. Yakuza families trying to rise above other Yakuza families. After each dead, a Yakuza family seeks revenge against another family. All of them plot against each other. That's it.

Looks like Takeshi was bored to think of a more interesting plot. I don't know..Some twists in it maybe could help. Some more of that dark humor present here and there would also help. But unfortunately, the overall taste left on me after watching all three movies, is that there is nothing to remember afterwards. At some point even the background music looks like it is totally out of place.

Regarding positives, the actors who played the Yakuza bosses and underbosses all play their parts well. And there are scenes with subtle black humor that made me laugh genuinely. Lastly, these movies do show the vanity of the gangster universe. Sure you can rise to the highest peak in a crime syndicate, but at the end of the day you are nothing but an expendable tool yourself. And each passing day only brings your downfall closer.

I would keep the best ideas from all three movies and i would think of a better plot for a single movie. Three movies with so many similarities between them, for me this is kind of an overkill.

Not among Takeshi's best.