Sushi Girl (2013)

Two things brought me to this movie initially: the casting of Mark Hamill, and the description of it as "crime fiction". I watched this movie last night after recording it, and it quite honestly exceeded my expectations. A criminal named Fish has been let out of jail after 6 years. He is brought to an abandoned restaurant, where his old crime buddies Francis, Duke, Crow, and Max are waiting. Also in their presence is a naked girl covered in sushi, who has been told that she cannot move or speak, no matter what she sees or hears. It turns out that the diamonds from heist that the group had pulled six years earlier are missing, and the others all place the blame on Fish. Thus begins a night of relentless torture for Fish, and the reveal that Francis was wired to record the meeting for the police, Duke planned to have them all dead, and a shocking tie-in involving the sushi girl.I've heard that this is a retread of Reservoir Dogs, and some even say a bad one at that. I haven't seen Reservoir Dogs, but it is certainly possible that this movie is trying to be that movie, and that Kern Saxton is trying to be Quentin Tarantino. However, taking that out of it, Sushi Girl works incredibly well on its own. The style reminds me of any Tarantino movie, but the setup is creative in my opinion. I loved looking around the restaurant they are in, and the flashbacks of the actual heist taking place are very well done.The cast is this movie's other strong suit. Tony Todd does excellent as Duke, the "mob boss" of them all. Noah Hathaway, the actor behind The Neverending Story's Atreyu, makes you feel for him, despite him being a criminal. The torture done to him is brutal in every way (by the way, the makeup artistry is great) and it's hard not to feel sorry for him. But the best has to be Mark Hamill as Crow. Crow touches both ends of the spectrum by being not only hilarious, but also downright intimidating. He is willing to put anyone's life on the line but his, and his menacing smile and voice just complete the picture. Every character, while somewhat of a cutout, is unique and has their own quirk to them.The movie is NOT appropriate for kids at all. There is nudity, an abundance of swearing, and like I mentioned before, intense blood and gore. If you are able to stomach all of that, and want a great character study, this film is for you,

I was looking for an odd, strange, and freaky movie, and this one sounded perfect. Unfortunately, while watchable, didn't quite hold up, although the acting and production values were very good. Without giving anything away, a short very general description is that this is a Tarantino-style film (as everybody seems to notice) that starts out with good promise, but then quickly degenerates into pretty simple-minded torture porn. It is, however, reasonably well-redeemed by a decent twist at the very end. Not much more to it, and I'm highly ambivalent about having spent the time to watch it.

I absolutely could not recognize Mark Hammil (Star Wars). Yes, there is a 30+ year age difference, but he has really changed.Tony Todd Candyman), however is ageless. Five robbers gather to eat a meal off the body of a Sushi Girl (Cortney Palm). Her naked body was exposed throughout the evening as they tortured Fish (Noah Hathaway) in an attempt to discern where the diamonds were from a robbery six years earlier. It was pretty gruesome, and the ending was predictable.But, wait, it didn't end when I thought it would. There was another ending that was just fantastic. It was definitely worth the wait.Cortney Palm is a combination of Angelina Jolie and Audrey Hepburn - beauty and grace. See more of her in Seance: The Summoning and Silent Night.

A thriller does not have to consist of constant shootings and chases (often unreal or beautified); it is good to remember from time to time that crime and treason are unpleasant phenomena. Thus, Sushi Girl gives a realistic and intense succession of events related to partners in crime whose heist went wrong and their booty got lost. Whose fault was this, who could have the diamonds? - Those questions were asked in an odd atmosphere in the presence of a live sushi table and angry criminals, using different kinds of "persuasion". Here, the most interesting characters are Crow and Duke (played by Mark Hamill and Tony Todd, respectively). Frequent flashbacks help to create the progression of the failed heist 6 years before, but all this does not become annoying, leading to a sophisticated ending. Of course, there are several references and links to Tarantino, Rodriguez and like (particularly Reservoir Dogs), but the movie is still made with style and logical plot. Torment scenes are pretty much naturalistic, but - as stated before - crime is no game, no fun, despite there are dozens of movies trying to give such an impression.