Ever since the release of John Wick, every story about an individual with a violent past who turns to his old ways to do some good has been labeled as a rip-off of the action movie starring Keanu Reeves. But the fact is that this particular plot is as old as movies themselves. Akira Kurosawa used this trope in The Seven Samurai in 1954. Clint Eastwood’s Man with No Name is a recognizable figure in this action subgenre, and that character began his journey on the big screen in 1964.
In the 90s, we had The Long Kiss Goodnight. David Cronenberg gave us his own take on this kind of story with A History of Violence in 2005. If you dip your toes into Tamil and Telugu films and their Bollywood remakes, almost every project featuring an aging star has the same old narrative. I don’t know if the Japanese started all of this, but with Demon City, we are definitely witnessing a moment of coming full circle. Now, the question is, is this cliché running out of gas or does it still have something new to offer?
Director: Seiji Tanaka
Writers: Masamichi Kawabe, Seiji Tanaka
Stars: Tôma Ikuta, Masahiro Higashide, Miou Tanaka
Seiji Tanaka's Demon City, which is based on Masamichi Kawabe's Onigoroshi, tells the story of Sakata, a legendary assassin who has carried out his final mission for Fujita by wiping a branch of the Yakuza off the map in the city of Shinjo. He returns home to begin a new chapter of his life without violence with his wife, Aoi, and daughter, Ryo. But unfortunately, a clan of masked villains, known as the Kimen-gumi, break into Sakata's home, announce that they are the ones who will rule Shinjo now that the Yakuza are gone, and then proceed to massacre the entire family.
The narrative jumps forward 12 years and it is revealed that despite being shot in the head, Sakata is alive, albeit in a vegetative state. Ryu Sunohara, the leader of the Kimen-gumi, is running for mayor and is on the cusp of winning because he's supposedly killed his rivals. And while the main city thrives, everything around it is in ruins. So when another assassination attempt on Sakata occurs, he wakes up from his slumber to make the Kimen-gumi pay for their transgressions.
Demon City's plot is a strange mix of predictable and unsubtle. If you've seen the trailer, you know more or less who the main villain is, whether Ryo is alive or not, and what will happen between the antihero and his enemies at the end. If you haven't seen the trailer and you blindly make a prediction 10 minutes into the film, I can assure you that your guess will be correct. The only plus point is that Tanaka shows that after leading a life of violence, no one can choose peace without atoning for their sins.
It’s not something new, but as I’ve recently seen several films (mostly in Tamil and Telugu) that completely miss this trope and turn characters born from this subgenre into messiahs of goodness and role models, a return to the roots feels somewhat refreshing. The fact that in the entire film there isn’t a single moment where Sakata seems nice is a win. It’s just that the people he’s up against are worse. That’s where the film’s social commentary comes in, where Tanaka simply states that everyone from the mayor to the police chief is corrupt and that they’re making the rich richer and the poor poorer. That’s it.
What Demon City lacks in terms of emotional depth or narrative complexity it makes up for with its unbridled, no-holds-barred, fabulously gory and incredibly entertaining action sequences. Sakata’s introduction can be considered average by industry and genre standards, but it’s the hospital fight where things start to get really interesting. I was under the impression that the film was going to speed up Sakata’s recovery process with a training montage and then treat him like a traditional action protagonist.
So, you can only imagine my surprise and delight at seeing the action crew do their version of Drunken Master as Sakata drags his semi-limp body through the waiting room to face those trying to kill him. Tomoyasu Hotei’s music, Kohei Kato’s cinematography, Norifumi Ataka’s editing, and Norifumi Ataka’s production design all come together to maintain this balance of slow-paced, dark comedy, and pain right to the end. The choreography evolves as Sakata gains more and more control over his body. And just when you think he’s back, he comes crashing down again with a bunch of injuries. It’s inventive, hilarious, and sad at the same time, and it satisfied the action fan in me.
Congratulations to the entire stunt team for carrying Demon City on their backs and a round of applause to Toma Ikuta for showing each actor what they need to do to be considered.
Comments
Post a Comment