Re:Born is a Japanese action film that was initially released in
2016, but it’s only being seen my most international audiences this year. It caught my attention when I stumbled upon a
trailer of it on my Facebook news feed. Based
on that trailer, it looked like The Raid
of Japan, and since I love The Raid
movies, I quickly checked it out.
The plot follows Toshiro (Tak
Sagakuchi), a legendary black ops operative codenamed “Ghost”, whose quiet retired
life is disrupted when assassins are sent to kill
him. Hence, he’s left with no choice but
to kill them all first.
Well, the best thing about this
movie is the jaw-dropping, hard-hitting fight choreography. Like The
Raid, it’s defined by exciting close combat action and a video game narrative
structure, as it follows a hero going through a gauntlet of enemies of escalating number and strength, while
showcasing how much of a badass martial artist he is. However, though the fight scenes are
mostly a lot of fun to watch, they don’t feel as grounded and cathartic as the
fight scenes in The Raid. Sometimes, they even feel goofily over-the-top
(especially when Toshiro starts waving his body like a snake), which slightly
breaks the suspension of disbelief required to enjoy the movie. The plot doesn’t have much substance either,
and is awfully predictable.
That said, Re:Born is a gritty martial arts romp that should prove generally pleasing
to action enthusiasts.
No comments:
Post a Comment