Yakuza vs Samurai vs Zombies - how can it fail? (Versus (DVD))

Name: clownfoot

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Product:	Versus (DVD)
Date:	07.12.05 (1701 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Excellent action, great concept, gore by the bucket load.

Disadvantages: Far too long to be of benefit to the limited concept, gets dull when things are explained.

VERSUS

Supposedly there are 666 portals that connect this world to the other side. In Japan lies the 444th portal, the Forest of Resurrection. Following a rendezvous between a pair of recently escaped convicts and the heavily armed Yakuza sent to meet them on the forest road, an argument ensues over a kidnapped girl (Chieko Misaka) which ends in a Mexican stand-off and one of the gangsters shot dead. The stand-off is cut short though, when the still twitching corpse of the dead man gets back to his feet and begins to attack another of his former colleagues. With the zombie shot down in a hail of bullets, the remainder of the gangster's begin to pursue Prisoner KSC2-303 (Tak Sakaguchi - none of the characters in Versus actually have any names) and the girl, who have run off into the forest to escape a similar fate. But the forest does exactly as its name entails - a place with peculiar powers in resurrecting the dead. The gangster's folly is soon realised seeing as they've been using the grounds of the forest to dispose of their previous victims, who are now starting to crawl out from their crude graves before the gangster's very eyes. But even if anyone survives the ensuing battle there's still the question of why the Yakuza have arranged to meet the prisoners at the forest in the first place and why they brought the girl along. And who is this "Man" (Hideo Sakaki) the gangster's keep referring to who seems to be giving the Yakuza their instructions?

The premise of Versus is one of startlingly original potential. The concept of samurai, Yakuza and zombies all facing off against each other in one great blood-thirsty free-for-fall is rather unique and screams of ballsy out-and-out entertainment of the Evil Dead 2 variety (something which has become distinctly lacking in recent years). Not only that, but such a premise also sounds just so damn cool (in a comic-book style over substance kind of fashion) that there's no way in hell it could possibly fail to deliver on all levels. And whilst a maelstrom of gore-laden carnage, hacked up body parts, electric martial arts combat and downright bizarre zombie-plot silliness are present, it somehow contrives in failing to deliver on such expectation.

That doesn't mean that Versus' is a bad film. For the first 45 minutes alone there are enough ludicrous plot shenanigans, hyper-kinetic action scenes and a few original grizzly deaths to keep the majority of style junkies very happy. The opening ambiguity to the bizarre reincarnation of Yakuza victims maintains a well judged aura of suspense, without being out-right terrifying (mostly due to the film being entirely shot in daylight), that is off-set with some blackly humourous moments fitting the circumstances nicely. Witness one of the Yakuza (Kenji Matsuda) shooting dead a fellow colleague in order to adjudge whether the dead really are coming back from the grave. Without taking itself too seriously or attempting to explain or reason the appearance of zombies sufficiently, it simply sets-up a fantastically orchestrated battle against the zombie hordes. And the action is exceptionally fun and hardcore.

Here, director Ryuhei Kitamura's camera-work is fast-moving and visceral, obviously promoting a similar Evil Dead style to events, and whilst it often becomes a bit jittery he does capture some remarkable angles for the balletesque violence, combat and blood on show. Zombies being shot to bits with a variety of gun-power incorporating heads, chests and many other body parts exploding in a mass of gore are the essential highlights with some elaborate wire-work for the combat elements between Yakuza versus Zombies and Prisoner KSC2-303 versus Yakuza. Whilst none of the action scenes are as grandiose or as well marshalled as a John Woo Hong Kong action flick, they do have their own cheesily-cheerful charm in a simply entertaining way. When "The Man" does turn up the violence is toned up a notch with the punching out of a still beating human heart being a particularly memorable sequence.

Indeed the first half of Versus is brainlessly engaging and stylishly entertaining in spite of the relatively small budget. But then it starts to lose its way. By removing the stylish content of the opening third and replacing it with heavy dialogue laden scenes interspersed with the odd dollop of action, Versus ends up out staying it's welcome by some 60 minutes. The reasoning behind the zombies awaking turns into a rather ham-fisted spiritual battle that's been ongoing throughout the sands of time that's neither well-thought out nor delivered in a convincing fashion. As such, Versus loses its previously simple fluidity and focus and becomes a rather confusing mess of a film. Not sure of what it's supposed to be or where it's meant to be heading, more unnecessary characters are introduced that merely expand on Versus' running time. For instance, the police sheriff and his handless chum attempting to capture the prisoners may be slightly amusing, but they're deliberately contrived and pointless in the grand scheme of things, merely detracting Versus from reaching a logical conclusion. Two hours is just too long for a movie with such a slight concept.

Sure, there are the odd moments of extreme gore still to enjoy and the occasional samurai flashback adds up to a brilliantly orchestrated and choreographed Highlander-ish "there can be only one" finale, but the remainder of Versus just hits a rather flat note. Add to this an unnecessary ending attempting to deliver that now obligatory concluding twist, that doesn't work at all, and what you've got is a rather messy film that's to self-conscious for it's own good. Which is a shame as there are plenty of good thing's in here. On top of the gore, style and action, the acting, for a bunch of new comers, is decent throughout. Matsuda may be a little over the top along with Minoru Matsumoto's perpetually screaming terrified Yakuza, but this is off-set by excellent performances from both Sakaguchi and Sakaki. Sakaguchi personifies moody cool as the escaped prisoner with conflicting morals and a leather jacket. Sakaki is an endearing arch-nemesis dispatching dialogue such as "you'll need an army to kill me" with delightfully omnipotent glee before kicking arse.

A film of two half's then? Pretty much so! If Kitimara had kept to the simple B-movie concept established in the first section of Versus, there's little doubt that this would have been a ridiculous silly, yet highly entertaining hour and a bit of gore-laden fun. However, the fact he felt compelled to establish a more serious tone to the film by attaching actual explanation of what's going on and stretching it out to a rather ill-judged two hours in length, is at major odds with the original concept. Which, in the end, makes this a rather disappointing experience…


Overall - A film with great ideas but fatally flawed in execution, Versus still has it's moments which makes this worth watching in a post-pub kind of way. Fuelled with alcohol and chilli sauce from the after pub kebab, you can happily watch the first 45 minutes of Versus before falling asleep in the knowledge that you've watched the most fun parts of the film. As it stands as a non-post pub movie, Versus would have been far better had it been shorter, less self-conscious, devoid of needless comedy characters and if it actually featured one chainsaw (the lack of a single chainsaw in the running time is highly disappointing). A shame as the good bits (punching through someone's chest and pulling out there heart, the excellent sword fight at the end) are inexplicably good!


Director - Ryuhei Kitamura

Screenplay - Ryuhei Kitamura & Yudai Yamaguchi

Cast -

Tak Sakaguchi .... Prisoner KSC2-303
Hideo Sakaki .... The Man
Chieko Misaka .... The Girl
Kenji Matsuda .... Yakuza Leader with butterfly knife
Yuichiro Arai .... Motorcycle-riding yakuza with revolver
Minoru Matsumoto .... Crazy yakuza with amulet
Kazuhito Ohba .... Yakuza with glasses
Takehiro Katayama .... Red-haired assassin
Ayumi Yoshihara .... Long-haired female assassin
Shôichirô Masumoto .... One-handed cop
Toshiro Kamiaka .... Samurai warrior
Yukihito Tanikado .... Cop with Barrett
Hoshimi Asai .... Short-haired female assassin
Ryosuke Watabe .... Yakuza zombie in alligator-skin coat
Motonari Komiya .... Other prisoner

Running Time - 119 minutes

Certificate - 18 (for extreme violence and gore)

Genre - Action/Comedy/Fantasy/Horror


© Clownfoot, December 2005. This is a re-posting of my Versus' review from the Ciao website.

Summary: Yakuza fight for their life against Zombies in the Forest of Resurrection! Cool!