Tuesday, December 9, 2008

Crows: Episode Zero

Japan 2007



Bent on proving to his gangster father that he has the chops to take over the family business, Genji (Shun Oguri) enrolls in an ultraviolent high school where he sets out to fight his way to dominance and unite the school's gangs under his rule. But as Genji begins his ascent, reigning school boss Tamao (Takayuki Yamada) kidnaps Genji's girlfriend (Meisa Kuroki). Takashi Miike directs this action-packed drama that also stars Kyôsuke Yabe.
8/10



I was astounded by how much I enjoyed such a simple plotted manga adaptation, maybe it's just Miike's ability to direct that made a bunch of high school boys that look 25 kicking one another in the chest every chance they get that made this film so enjoyable. There is a nice amount of character emphasis that supplies plenty of substance making it more than a hunky romp. The production value, acting and fight sequences were spot on, very entertaining.
With a prolonged building up to one imminent and conclusive fight scene, the movie delivers. Looking forward to the sequel.

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