First Love, le dernier Yakuza

Incredibly directing over 100 films of various shapes and sizes since his first official film went out for public consumption in 1991, famed Japanese filmmaker Takashi Miike always provides his viewers with wild, unpredictable and often extremely original offerings (with in most cases additional blood shed and limb lopping) and in keeping up with tradition, black comedy First Love is yet another unique product from a visionary who has refused to ever rest on his laurels.

Showcasing a softer side to his persona and even dialing things back a little bit here and there throughout, First Love is in some ways a different kind of Miike ride as we spend a night with downtrodden up and coming boxer and personality by-passed Leo, who by a chance encounter finds himself involved with the Yakuza owned Monica and on the run from a bunch of Tokyo criminals that are all mixed up in a drug-swindle that sets in motion a group of warring parties all hell-bent on revenge and coming out on top.

Viewers have all certainly seen these type of "one night in the life" of type of films and there are elements of First Love that feel familiar but flying by at a consistent rate and throwing curve-balls at us every chance he gets (nothing can prepare you for visions of Monica's creepy father), there's enough fresh and exiting elements to Miike's vision that it ensures should a viewer fall under its spell, its likely that this odd hybrid of gangster film, romance and thriller will become a new favorite very quickly.

It's not a film that is going to make itself a legacy like some of Miike's most renowned works like 13 Assassins, Ichi the Killer and Audition but Miike fans are going to have a blast watching one of their favorite directors take himself and his audience on a wild Tokyo fueled ride that increasingly ramps up the craziness and zaniness as Leo and Monica get further and further entrenched into a night on the town that features lopped limbs, cartoon segments and fast-paced car chases and offers a more original narrative than countless other Hollywood counterparts and even in its last moments showcases a director with a growing heart and sense of sentimentality as Leo and Monica's journey may even warm hearts in unsuspecting ways.

So while not a fully-fledged instant Miike classic, First Love is a fun, fast-paced and frenetic fusion of violence, love and crazed criminals all set against the ever colorful and energetic backgrounds of one of the most vivid and unique cities in the world.

Final Say -

First Love is a fresh take on a familiar story line and while many of Miike's well-known staples are present, this is a film that feels a little different from what we've come to expect from the much-discussed director and provides a fun night out on the blood-soaked streets of Tokyo.

3 1/2 fortune tellers out of 5.

First Love goes back to Takashi Miike's brutal V-Cinema Yakuza movies between the mid-nineties and the early years of the new millennium. It tells the story of a lonesome boxer who has just learned that he has an incurable brain tumor who meets a drug-addicted prostitute who suffers from hallucinations of her violent father. Over the course of one single night, the two desperate youngsters get caught up in a violent conflict between Chinese and Japanese organized crime clans as well as local police force. The prostitute is suspected of having killed a gang member and stolen a handbag full of drugs. The boxer knocks out a crooked police officer who planned on framing her and is now on the run as well. The relationship between the prostitute and the boxer slowly intensifies but their biggest challenge remains to survive the eventful night.

This movie is a feast for Takashi Miike fans. The characters are diversified, eccentric and unique enough to keep your eyes glued to the screen. The flashy locations are gorgeous to watch. The action scenes are intense and especially the lengthy fight sequences in a warehouse mix gore elements with black slapstick humour in a typically Japanese way. The movie is also filled with tension and this thriller comes around with a few interesting twists and turns. The film also has some strong dramatic elements as it follows two lonesome outsiders who have suffered throughout their lives and are simply looking for peace of mind. The movie's pace is overall frantic and entertaining. The idea to let the film take place over the course of only a few days with the most important events unfolding in one single night, makes First Love a quite dynamic, focused and intense experience.

The film still has a few minor flaws however. The opening quarter is a little bit dragging and slightly overstays its welcome. The story is somewhat predictable if you're familiar with other Yakuza movies. The relationship between the two protagonists never really takes off as they don't have much chemistry. The title First Love is slightly misguiding in that regard and something like Crazy Night would have been more appropriate.

Still, First Love is an entertaining Yakuza movie that goes back to the genre's golden era in the mid-nineties. It features action, drama and thriller elements and is explicitly brutal, darkly humorous and gloomily nihilistic. Mainstream audiences might have trouble digesting this exciting potpourri but genre fans will get exactly what they like.

First Love takes too long to actually get going but it's ultimately worth it once it does. A twisted tale of true romance with a colourful cast of characters and brutally cartoonish violence. This is a better Yakuza movie than Takashi Miike's actual Yakuza adaptation, especially when it comes to its tonal balance.

Masataka Kubota and Sakurako Konshi are great leads who are easy to root for however, in a film like this it's the characters who are truly deranged who make the biggest impression. Becky's vengeance obsessed Julie and Jun Murakami's coolest Yakuza ever are the most over the top characters and therefore run away with the whole film.

Director Takashi Miike excels at balancing wildly different tones here. Moving from creepy hallucinations to bloody sword fights and pretty moving emotional beats whilst still finding time for some comedy. His trademark love of shoddy CGI remains intact and he comes up with a very clever way to work around the lack of budget when it comes to a late stage car chase.

Takashi Miike's filmography is one of the most impressive out there; he's directed over 100 films, with many of them being cult classics like 'Audition' and 'Ichi the Killer.' He's a filmmaker that's constantly pushing boundaries, exploring new horizons and delivering memorable spectacles that you want to see again and again.

So why does 'First Love,' a film about a boxer and a call girl in the crosshairs of a violent war between Yakuza members and various killers searching for a bag of drugs, feel so average?

Masa Nakamura, a previous Miike collaborator, wrote the admittedly very detailed screenplay for the film and manages to introduce multiple characters and subplots that believably converge into one climactic showdown, yet there are certain characters that are built up to be forces not to reckon with and end up not contributing much to the film, or living up to their "legend." The central relationship between the main characters, Leo and Monica (which turns out to be a moniker), feels underdeveloped and turns out to be not as important as one would expect. Even a reoccurring character she hallucinates from the film doesn't provide much development for her character and ends up being a red herring of sorts. I previously read rave reviews for the film and many critics called the film "hilarious," but there's really only one character who provides some chuckle-worthy lines; everything else feels serious and dark, especially the outlandish shootout in the climax, which could have gone absolutely balls-to-the-wall in its execution, but plays it rather safe.

Visually, the movie looks great. The actors all perform extremely well and I was definitely invested enough to wonder what would happen to each character as the film went along. It's not a bad movie by any means, but from a director who's made some insane movies, I had expected around the same level for this one. It is still worth a watch, but go in expecting "chilled out" Miike.

Good casting, great cinematography, fitting score and decent directing, but there were obvious plot and technical issues. The 108 run time felt much longer and some scenes were too long and/or unnecessary. The choreography and camera shots were terrible in the action scenes. A good film but could've easily been great.