4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
"You were wearing a bulletproof vest, coward, you call yourself a man!", February 4, 2007
Ikko is a young child when she is saved by the Black Angel and safely gets away to America after her dad (a Don of the Yakuza) dies. When she grows up she calls herself the Black Angel and goes back to Japan to take revenge. With her is a Japanese-American gang member who comes for fun and killing I guess. I didn't really get why he was always speaking English since he was so bad at it but it was funny and that was probably the point.
It seems like a simple story but really isn't. Ikko's half-sister Chiaki has married the new boss, Nogi, who placed the order for the hit in the first place. Then there is a dirty cop who works for the crime family and is just looking to stir up all kinds of trouble between them and Ikko. He knows some pretty juicy stuff and it gets mildly interesting. We know from the start of the movie that Ikko was kidnapped at birth and isn't the real daughter of the Don. She doesn't know this but finds out mid-way through the movie. Then we have the Black Angel herself who has become a dope fiend thanks to new boss Nogi and she works for him now.
What I really liked about the movie is the cinematography. There are certain shots you will never forget like the Black Angel shooting down everybody while Ikko is holding on to her waist and peeking out from behind to see the gunplay. The directing job is very good as seen when Ikko confronts Chiaki at a pool. The movie isn't a complete roller coaster ride but it does manages to be very dark and exciting at the same time. Everything usually takes place at night and the mood is what got me hooked right away.
If you are fan of stylized action and violence then you may like this movie even more. There are decent shooutouts and even some martial arts being used. Not much, but it is always nice to see fighting done well in movies. Just an added bonus for serious action junkies like me I guess. The final shootout is not spectacular but well done. The dialogue and the all out tragedy is much more interesting. Not some of the greatest action ever but some of the best I have seen in the girls with guns genre. The nudity and graphic violence fit right in as well. Excitement boosts this movie from a 3/5 to a 3.5/5.
The DVD from Tokyo Shock is anamorphically widescreened has pretty good picture quality. Japanese and an English track included. I know some people like the English dub but the original language is really the only way you should watch it. The English dub is just horrible. The voice acting is very bad and their dialogue is a lot different than the subtitles. And the subtitles are very well written.
Trailers-Reborn From Hell 2: Jubei's Revenge, The Score, Blood, and Wild Criminal.
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