Tokyo Zombie Takes Out the Trash

A couple of online (private blog) reviews of a Japanese Z-flick, "Tokyo Zombie," are offered below with links to the original blogs. This sounds like a typical Japanese romp-comedy. The idea of the zombies arising from the trash bin leaves the sound of the Python in my head: "Bring out your dead."

Monday, June 22, 2009

Review: Tokyo Zombie

Directed by Sakichi Sato.

Starring Tadanobu Asano, Sho Aikawa and Erika Okuda

Released by Madman Entertainment

Black Fuji is an impressive mound of rubbish in the middle of Tokyo where locals dump all kinds of unwanted material - anything from household waste to corpses (and in one memorable scene, an unwanted mother-in-law). So it's natural that when two blue collar workers accidentally bump off the boss, they would take him there to dispose of the evidence. What's not so natural is that their arrival coincides with a mysterious force which is reanimating the dead and producing a plague of zombies.

Fujio (Tadanobu Asano) and Mitsuo (Sho Aikawa) are an amiable pair who seem to be unfazed by the marauding herd of undead on their doorstep. The first half of the movie is a light-hearted romp as they stock up on supplies, talk about their lives and practise their beloved ju-jitsu. Oh, and fight off the zombies too.

However, after rescuing a surprisingly ungrateful woman, things go downhill for the pair. Because the plot contrives to separate the friends halfway through, the movie falls uncomfortably into two sections - the first is a light-hearted 'zom-com' and the second a dour, post-apocalyptic scenario. The 'love-interest' played by Erika Okuda only serves to irritate, though her daughter has one of the film's best lines. It's certainly directed with verve by Sakichi Sato but you get the feeling that some of the humor may have been lost in translation.

Stereotypes abound (the Japanese male as pervert looking up the skirt of young girls, housewives acting as screeching harridans), though it's hard to take offense as the whole film has such an oddball and strangely innocent feel to it. The special effects are cheap and cheerful - Industrial Light and Magic certainly have nothing to worry about. All in all, it's a pleasant way to spend a couple of hours. Just don't expect any of the gravitas of a Romero film. And don't expect to always understand exactly what is going on.

To read Mark Smith-Briggs erudite comments on the same film look below.

Monday, April 06, 2009

Review: Tokyo Zombie (Japan, 2005)

Writer/director Sakichi Sato brings the much-loved Laurel and Hardy style zombie invasion Manga of the same name to the big screen with mixed results. Marketed as a Japanese Shaun of the Dead, and released hot on the heals of the British hit, it’s a film that shows loads of promise early, but ends up biting its own foot with a frustrating tonal shift half way through that undoes all its hard work.

Tokyo Zombie is essentially two films in one – a witty, slapstick zombie invasion and an unsuccessful look at a post-zombie society. The first half – which deals with the impending invasion – is by far the best, introducing us to two bumbling fire extinguisher factory works with a love of jujitsu who must use their martial arts skills to escape a zombie hoard. Told with a wry wit and buckets of blood, the oddball buddy movie is fresh and funny and held together by a lovable pair of screwball lunatics.

But following the zombification of one of the main characters about 45 minutes in, the film then shifts nine years into a stark Mad Max: Thunderdome meets Land of the Dead style society where the rich have enslaved the surviving population – and zombies – and use them for a series of bloodthirsty fighting games for their entertainment. While potentially an interesting film in its own right, the futuristic vision lacks the biting humour of the previous act, missing the buddy act that made the story so engaging.

Tokyo Zombie is brimming with potential, but for all its efforts it never quite gets there. Still, with its trademark style, including an anime interlude, and mostly fun mix of screwball humour it’s sure to find a home on cult cinema shelves.

Tokyo Zombie is released on DVD through Madman Entertainment. Extras include a making of featurette, Q and A session and original trailers.