SDMS Score: 70
When watching Miike Tsongshi's movies, it is often to stimulate yourself. Since "Killer Ah Yi", he has fallen in love with this evil director, and "Skin-to-Skin Love" has made his career blossom with sin. However, Takashi Miike has not produced a decent work for many years. In my impression, only "Ghost Call" is still so-so. As for the "Monster War" that I had high expectations for back then, it was a complete disappointment.
So I didn't hold out much hope when I watched "Shouyaki Western Movies". I thought that I could see some exaggerated stage performances, plus Takashi Miike's bloody drama, and that's about it. But in fact this movie far exceeded my expectations.
First of all, there are some interesting characters. For example, Qing Sheng, who used Shakespeare to fool the villains, claimed to be Henry VI. This person has no great ability and is very afraid of death, but by accident he got the most powerful machine in the whole movie. Gun, it's like Arnold in T2. This ingenious balance of power makes the film's final battle very heady.
The second character I admire is the split law enforcement officer played by Teruyuki Kagawa. This role was originally put in a Japanese film as a tribute to Westerns. It seems a bit redundant, but Teruyuki Kagawa's performance makes him shine. Especially when running, one said to go this way, the other said to go that way, Miike Takashi's camera position made this scene full of vitality.
Second, there are several scenes in Shouyaki Western that are really unforgettable. For example, in the scene of Kagawa Shōyuki's path selection, and the scene of Jingjing dancing, they also set off the atmosphere very well. When Liu Lizi suddenly drew a gun and revealed her identity, I was still a little excited. The action scenes are also more enjoyable. When Takashi Miike played flashback this time, he boldly used over-saturated image processing, alternating orange, dark green, and indigo. I plan to imitate it when I make a small movie in the future.
Of course, the shortcomings of the film are also obvious, the first half is obviously too procrastination. In my opinion, one of the big shortcomings of Miike Tsongshi is that he likes to let a group of characters who are inherently condescending. He has to say some non-trivial philosophies in a serious manner. I understand it as a kind of bastard's self-fullness, of course It might be a humorous way of Takashi Miike, more likely Sanchi is the bastard himself.
Also I don't like the scenes in the film where Quentin appears, I think Quentin's scenes are simply disjointed and redundant. It's better to cut it directly, the whole story is more condensed. Now it seems that such a scene was deliberately added in order to take care of Quentin's appearance and to use this big name as a stunt. Of course, maybe Miike Takashi is out of consideration for imitating classics, but the beginning of the film is really too nonsensical, and I can't stand it.
There are also some small condiments that Miike Tsongshi added in the film. For example, during the fight, he just happened to see Liu Lizi relieve his hand. This kind of episode will only make people who like it stunned, and people who hate it can't bear it.
Watching "Shouyaki Western", I can't help but think of Jin Zhiyun's "Good Guys, Bad Guys, Weird Guys". In all fairness, Jin Zhiyun's handling techniques are more skilled and the story is smoother. But if I want to say which one I like more, I should choose "Shouyaki Western Movies". This time, Miike Takashi had a great time, and I also enjoyed watching it very much. When I was watching Kim Ji-woon's movie, even though my favorite Korean actor, Big Pie, was there, I was still thinking: Why isn't this movie over yet?
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