Vicious (Versus (DVD))

Name: Wolfzilla

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Product:	Versus (DVD)
Date:	24.03.08 (110 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Action packed,over the top awesome ride

Disadvantages: The plot is a bit weird in points,one performance

When an Asian movie recieves a lot of hype, it's now become something that I don't get excited about at all. While I wouldn't go as far as saying any of the movies that have recieved a lot of hype here have been bad, they certainly haven't been the life changing experiences they were made out to be, presumably just because it's cool to like foreign movies now. So when I head about this movie 'Versus', that was supposed to be violent,rapid-paced and cool as all hell, I was more than a little scepticle. I had come out of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Ringu and Battle Royale more than a little disapointed, so I didn't rush out and buy the first copy of Versus I saw, I waited. The idea of zombies and martial arts appealed to me, so I kept an eye on it, and eventually it cropped up for £8, which was when I swooped, I figured it would at least be worth a watch.

The film is incredibly tough to review, due to the fact that only one character is ever given a name, and even the Internet Movie DataBase has had to give the two main characters not named titles to help distinguish them.
The film begins 500 years in the past in Japan, where a brave warrior stands against a group of undead fighters before finally being struck down by their leader. This battle takes place in an area of woodland that would come to be known as the 'Forest of Ressurection'. There are 666 portals to the netherworld, and 444 is the Forest of Ressurection.
In present day, two prisoners have escaped Japanese prison, one of them a Yakuza who has been told where to meet more Yakuza in the forest. They meet a group of them, but their leader is missing. The men have kidnapped a girl (Chieko Misaka), this angers one of the escapees, Prisoner KSC2-303 (Tak Sakaguchi), and in an altercation with the Yakuza, he shoots one of the men dead and uses another as a shield for he and the girl. After a standoff, to their amazement, the dead man rises and tries to kill them, and after gunning down this zombie, the other escapee is killed, and in the ensuing chaos Prisoner and Girl escape into the forest.

As the Yakuza pursue them, it becomes clear that the Forest of Ressurection is more than a name, and it also happens to be where this particular group of Yakuza bury their victims. It isn't long before the place is overrun with zombies, some of which are gun toting, and Prisoner and the Yakuza get into many a scrap with each other and the undead.

It isn't long before the Yakuza's boss villain (Hideo Sakaki) arrives, and proves to be more than mortal, as his henchmen try to off him unsuccesfully before he makes them his undead slaves.
The girl comes to realise what is happening, and that she and Prisoner are more than just normal people caught up in a horrible coincidence, and it is up to the prisoner to stop this man, who is a lot closer to him than he realises, before he unleashes forces even worse than those they have encountered.

I will leave the plot at that, because it is at times confusing, but while watching you seem to be constantly in the loop of what is happening, as odd as that sounds. It's only when you really think about it afterwards and try to write about it that you realise how odd it is. While there are a few plot complaints, such as two cops who appear pretty much to die and leave behind a gun reminiscent of the Cobra Assault cannon from Robocop, and the uber-weird ending, but the thing about the film is that it builds up a mythology that has viewers filling in the gaps themselves. The director is presently working on a sequel, which may shed some light on some of the plot holes and mysteries, but this is the type of film that gets away with them being there, basically because you enjoy what is presented so much that it actually becomes enjoyable debating about what the actual truth is. The fact that not many a person goes into an action or horror flick expecting any sort of great plot means that I couldn't be disapointed with this intrigueing, if really quite odd plot.

The fact of the matter is, that at times you almost forget there is a plot, but don't care, due to the out-of-this-world action sequences which come thick and fast and are always entertaining and stylish. We have shoot-outs,martial arts fights,sword-duels all of the above featuring zombies and generally any conceivable way of having carnage on-screen. The fact that not one action sequence is dull or repetitive really does give the movie a rollercoaster feel, and you wonder if it will ever let up with the thick and fast action. The film is pretty damn gory, so you are forewarned, but it's gory in an anime sense, it isn't disturbing gory, but over-the-top to the point it's almost humourous in the vein of films like Evil Dead 2. In fact, the movie has more than that in common with Sam Raimi's breakthrough series. To gain funding for Versus, director Kitamura filmed a 50 minute short with a similar story, titled Down to Hell, much like Sam Raimi did with 'Within the Woods' for the Evil Dead. This was originally planned as a sequel to Down to Hell, but thankfully seeing it is not necessary to enjoying Versus.

The fights are over the top without going to the limits of some Hong Kong films, so while you will see the fighters go flying and spinning, don't expect any running up trees and flying. The director, Ryuhei Kitamura, is heavily involved with videogames, and Versus' action is like that of a videogame.

A lot of people rip into the acting here, but apart from the over the top to the point it's camp acting of the lead Yakuza guy who turns into some-sort of frog-man when dead, I wasn't bothered by the acting at all. As I often seem to say, I don't like being critical on people whose words are being subbed or dubbed, but I thought the leading trio were all very good, with the hero and villain both getting cool down to a T.

Sadly, my DVD only has a subbed version, and while the subs seem good, I do like a dubbed version for comparison, and I usually prefer dubbing for an action film, so I can soak up what's happening on-screen without having to try and read subs at the same time.

Music in the film is techno-rock stuff that initially seems a little over the top and distracting, but once the major action kicks in it becomes part of what makes the action so great, it fits it perfectly.

A lot of people go on about how it's low budget and the effects aren't very good, and I have to wonder what these people are watching. While it doesn't change how I look at effects, I personally thought they were above average in execution at all times, and when I discovered it was made for a low budget it actually increased my admiration of them.

On the whole, due to the story faults, Versus probably only deserves at best 4 stars, but to be perfectly honest, I can't help myself but give it 5, basically because it's the first (modern) film that I've seen since I was a child that actually made me exclaim "holy s**t!", and the fact that it made me do so on more than one occasion speaks for itself. The film is what would happen if Horror and Action films had a child, a child which was mentally disturbed and an expert in the Martial Arts. It's action is so in-your face and at you that I couldn't help but absolutely love it. I cannot wait to see the sequel (hopefully there will be more than one, I hope they do offer some story elaboration, because I feel this could be the start of an excellent mythos), or director Kitamura's take on the King of the Monsters in Godzilla Final Wars.
If you like action movies, you will undoubtedly enjoy Versus. If, like me, you also enjoy horror movies and your taste in action movies includes asian ones, chances are you will out and out love the movie. It's gory,gratuitous and great.

Summary: Fast, Furious, Frantic, Fun