Bayside Shakedown 2 (2003)

'Action'? 'Comedy'? For me it was a drama. It was depressing to watch this misogynistic filth. Out of three or so main female characters, one was shot, the other kidnapped and the last was put in her place. What I mean is, she started out as the leader of the investigation but ended up losing her position, her future unclear as the male protagonist got the girl and was credited with getting some of the work done, despite his input being less than 10%. Don't get me wrong, he put in the hours and the work, but he was just so terrible at it. He ran to the wrong place, tripped alarms, lost suspects and left a key witness to fend for herself and generally acted like he's fresh out of the police academy- no, like a struggling minor in some sort of fat camp. It made me mad to see this inept buffoon cruise by while some poor woman got the brunt end of the stick. And why? Because she's pretty. Allegedly. From the second she appeared everyone undermined her authority all because she was pretty, so she must've been a politically placed unqualified dolt. Meanwhile everyone thinks the main guy is a hero despite all the times he messes up.The movie is way too long, moves at a snail's pace and as far as comedy goes, one could get more laughs from Dane Cook (getting hit. Not his actual 'jokes'. If you can call them that.). And ignore anyone who says "If you have knowledge of x culture or y thing then you'll appreciate this" because that person is desperately speaking out of his or her ass trying to justify this turd of a movie and it's just now worth it, read a book, play a video game, it'll be time better spent.

Went into the cinema with absolutely no preconceptions of the show - hadn't heard of it, or its sequel, and chose it because it looked like it might be good, brainless entertainment.In the end it was just brainless. It really was. Plot loopholes aplenty. Illogical logic. Lame, flat humour, cheesy lines, uninspiring action. Everything was so obvious, so run of the mill, so pointless. Really, I couldn't figure out why this show was even made, let alone how it came to be "Japan's biggest live action box office hit".Maybe the ending would've redeemed it - I wouldn't know. From about 15 minutes in I knew the movie was a bad idea, and despite valiant attempts to fight the urge, good taste prevailed and I walked out about 70 minutes in. I've only ever walked out on two movies before in my life, mind, so I'm not the type to often vote with my feet.Looking at voting here people seem to think better of the show, but I know my friend and I who were both watching the show thought the same of it - very little indeed. This was a -1/5 (yes that's negative one) on my personal scale - not just a waste of money, I almost feel like writing to the show's producers for a refund.

The same cast is back with a much bigger budget with their success on the first blockbuster movie! You can tell right off the start they spent a lot of money on this. It has the same style as the first with yet another awesome title intro and music score. I thought it was well crafted and much bigger than most Hollywood movies. I believe this movie was out in theaters in Japan while Battle Royale 2 was. And I can see why this movie was #1 and Battle Royale 2 was lower down the rank. Battle Royale 2 was a major disappointment, and was stressing to watch with the constant screaming and random shooting, a total Saving Private Ryan rip-off, and ridiculous ending! Well, I guess that is a totally different review but I can see why this movie was #1, as it was MUCH MORE enjoyable to watch. The pace of the movie moves pretty fast. I wanted to see more! But it had to end. The story wasn't completely mind blowing but it definitely had its moments and kept me focus all the way to the end. I don't know why but I actually got a bit teary in this one scene!What was sort of a letdown was the criminals in this one did not stand out much. The idea of the criminal type was cool but I expected them to do more and be a little more strong and threatening. But this is more of a comedy so I guess they can't really go deep into that direction? Well, comedy and drama is a hard mix but they do a pretty good job.If you plan on watching this movie with English subtitles, just be warned, they aren't done that great. Especially the subtitles in one scene, I guess isn't much of a big deal there, but the subtitles says apples when it's really suppose to be pear! That mistake stood out the most but there were others.Bayside Shakedown 2 has an awesome soundtrack, fun and likable cast, great cinematography, and it's just a fun movie to watch that is not to be taken so seriously. It is mainly a comedy after all, not the "Dumb and Dumber" kind though. The making of the film was quite interesting to watch too!Definitely worth a watch, especially if you've seen the first one.Overall Rating: 7/10

Bayside Shakedown 2: Save the Rainbow BridgeThis is the second feature-length spin-off from the Japanese TV series and, like the first, it feels over long - as if there's a really good 60 minute TV show trapped inside a 2 hour movie.There's precious little in the way of back-story, so if you're not up to speed on the relationships, particularly between Aoshima and Muroi, and the internal politics, you'll probably end up a little confused because (I'd guess) this film really doesn't stand up very well out of context.On the plus side, if you like the series and / or the first film, you'll enjoy this one too because the formula and cast survive intact - the only real difference being a larger budget which the producers decided to spend on bigger set pieces and more location shoots. Oh - one other change between this film and the previous efforts is that the bumbling local police chief's role has been virtually eliminated - which is a good thing.