Tokyo Zombie (2009)

I love a lot of Japanese films. This however, is not one of them. Too much bizarre forced humor (yes I know bizarre is a catch word in these kind of Japanese films), but it's just a silly exercise in nonsense. A few somewhat funny scenes, but overall a miss.

Among the wildest, weirdest and most creative filmmaking countries are the Japanese. I love the strange and very funny films I have often seen from this movie-making juggernaut. Sure, they have made a lot of sophisticated and artsy film by the likes of Ozu and Kurosawa...but they also have brought us films like "Happiness of the Katauris" as well as the ultra-weird films of Minoru Kawasaki. "Happiness of the Katakuris" is a hilarious zombie musical from Takashi Miike...possibly my favorite Japanese comedy. As for Kawasaki, his films got far beyond this in strangeness...such as "Executive Koala" in which the leading character is played by a guy in a koala suit, "Rug Cop" which is about a toupee wearing cop whose wig actually has a mind of its own as well as "Calamari Wrestler"...about a pro wrestler who is a giant squid!!! So, it's not at all surprising that I would get a copy of "Tokyo Zombie"...a comedy zombie film from Sakichi Satô. Apparently it's based on a manga series...though I know nothing more about this.The film begins with two complete idiots, Micchan and Fujio, practicing (very badly) their martial arts instead of working. The boss catches them and is very angry...and attacks Micchan. To stop him, Fujio smashes the boss in the head with a fire extinguisher and the pair then take the jerky boss to 'Black Mount Fuji"....a giant mountain of garbage outside Tokyo. It seems that LOTS of murdered folks have been buried there...and soon after they plant the boss, the dead all start coming to life and do what comes natural to zombies...try to feast on the living. During this period, Micchan is bitten and jumps supposedly to his death--leaving Fujio with a really nasty lady he inexplicably takes care of through the rest of the film.The story then jumps ahead five years. It seems that within Tokyo, the rich scum have set up a compound and they keep out the zombies...or at least most of them. They do bring in some to have them fight in an arena against various poor people who the rich have enslaved. One of them is Fujio and the awful rich women who come to the games hate him as he's too good and his fights only last a few seconds. So, the man running the games brings everyone a surprise...zombie Micchan!! What's next? See the film and learn who prevails in this battle of the titans...or at least two crappy jujitsu practitioners.Based on the description, the story sounds incredibly strange and right up my alley, right? Well, yes...and no. The problem is that while there are many funny story elements the film also has many slow spots and some of the characters (especially Fujio's wife) make little sense and the story seems almost as if they're winging it. Also, some of the acting and special effects have an incredibly cheap quality about them. If you are a patient person and don't mind the lulls, the story is worth seeing. But I cannot help that perhaps it could have been a lot better.

This movie is one of those rare gems you come across. It is an excellent example of great, odd films you can find from Japan. First of all, this movie is funny. Secondly, it has zombies, and Tadanobu Asano, probably one of Japans finest actors. Even though this is a zombie movie, it feels like a fresh take on an old idea. Anyone who is a fan of Tokyo shock, or weird Asian films will love it. Asano shines as a jujitsu training, zombie killing, laugh factory. Sho Aikawa plays his mentor, and provides plenty of comic relief. The female lead also lends a good deal of humorous dialog and action. Something for everyone. great movie!!!

From the first minute to the end of the credits, this movie is a zombie movie lover's fantasy. Imagine crossing Shaun of the Dead and Kung Fu Hustle and you'll have a small idea of what kind of movie you're in for when you watch Tokyo Zombie.I scour the world of film to find movies that stand out to me as being worthy of owning. I'm very picky when it comes to movies, and I've seen many films that fall into the "zombie" category which end up being nothing short of wasted time in my life once I reach the ending. I am a fan of Shaun of the Dead simply because it not only is a comedy, but it mocks the entire genre of horror movies and zombie flicks. Tokyo Zombie is much the same in the way that you try to open your mind to it and wonder how long it will be before you can accept it's another zombie movie, before you realize that you're laughing hysterically aloud at flying heads and spurting blood.Don't think that you've EVER seen effects like these before. The movie opens to two men practicing Ju-Jitsu, one of them, Micchan (whom believes he has cancer after he forces his doctor to tell him that's what it is after the doc insists it's just a stomach ulcer) and he dedicates his life to helping his friend, Fujio, learn Ju-Jitsu, so once zombies start sprouting from the graves, why not practice on them?The two men accidentally kill their boss, Ujimoto, and decide to bury his body on Black Fuji, a big mountain of ash which there are apparently hundreds of people burying things from satellite dishes to refrigerators to, in a funny scene, the mother of a wimp-like guy who's up to her head and yelling at the young guy's girl who is threatening him with loss of sex if he doesn't bury his mom, but well she's up to her head in the ash and the girl gets tired of hearing this woman's rantings so she punts the woman's head and it flies off the mountain at about 50 miles per hour screaming at her son "Darrrliiinnnnnggggggg!!!!" in Japanese as it flies off to the horizon. I pretty much lost it at that point, laughing hysterically at the comedy of it all. Usually in a movie like this you'll get a 5-10 min break before there's more humor, but no, they keep it going with a school teacher burying the body of one of his male students who he had killed while apparently spanking in school... Well, he was also the teacher of Fujio, and he'd spanked him quite a bit before in the past so Fujio goes down to him and beats the crap out of him with a shovel, and it's pretty funny how he does it. The teacher, you'd think, dies then, but no he gets up a few minutes later to find his pants missing, but is happy to see a young woman come out of the ground who's eyeing his exposed penis with a hungry smile, so he decides to let her enjoy it, and she does, with zombie-like abandon... Immediately following this, the two Ju-Jitsu buddies drive over the wandering body of the boy who's mother's head was booted off into the sunset because they're arguing as to whether or not the teacher had his way with Fujio in the past or not.All of this happens within the first 15 minutes of the movie, well by 14 minutes and 11 seconds to be exact. The movie's script is well done, the acting is quite nice, the graphics and especially the zombies are very well done. I, personally, will end up recommending this movie to many of my friends, and I'm sure that it will become one of my new favorites in not only Asian cinema, but also in the realm of true horror-comedy.If you have the chance to see this movie, don't pass on it, I'm sure you'll enjoy watching it, none of the scenes are over-the-top, and none of the acting seems forced. It's a well-balanced flick which I will keep in my mind's database of A+ movies and I'm sure I'll reference it whenever I try to explain how some Asian movies are well worth watching.I hope this review and my comments have helped you make your decision about this movie.