Crows Explode departs from the flashy and energetic style of the previous Crows Zero films by being adopting a somber tone and giving a few of the characters real, fleshed out emotions and struggles. The problem is that this realism is mixed with the typical Crows action craziness of having various cartoonish thugs fighting for control of Suzuran, a high school that apparently has no classes or teachers. There's not enough time devoted to either and the film is unsatisfying as a result.
And to be honest, I came for the fighting, but I left wishing there was more time spent on the drama. The dramatic scenes are in that classic Asian macho drama mold of cool/tough guys suddenly bursting into emotion they can no longer contain, with anger, fear, honor, and respect all coming together at once. It's the kind of awesome stuff that Asian cinema does best, but there just isn't enough time spent on the drama here. Too bad, as the little that is here is pretty good.
