Let me know if this sounds familiar: A muscle-car-loving gang hitman capable of tearing an army of bodyguards to shreds, and seemingly impervious to bullets, wants to leave the business to have a quiet family life after completing a major hit to bring down a rival gang. But when he loses his family and is attacked at home, and then left for dead, he goes on a murderous rampage of revenge.
Yes, when I say Demon City is Japan’s answer to John Wick, I don’t just mean it’s an action movie full of slick hand-to-hand combat (although it is that). I mean this thing really spends the first 20 minutes sketching a new story around John Wick‘s outline.
But in its very first scene, it also makes clear what sets it apart in this comparison by adding a lot more blood and dismemberment, and creating its own dramatic goal by having a group of guys in demonic masks collectively attack our anti-hero Sakata – so instead of a hunt for one villain, we know we’re going to see our hero collect a load of heads here (probably with masks still attached).
It further sets itself apart with a 12-year time jump, and a light dusting of political conspiracy to add spice. Whereas John Wick was pulled back in by unlucky circumstances, Sakata is at the center of a storm of betrayal and intrigue – a few of these elements tie into it having a certain air of Park Chan-wook’s Oldboy about it too.
But it’s far less interesting in being grounded than most similar movies, and is happy to throw the occasional feat of near super-strength into its uniquely and unmissably choreographed fight scenes. If you’re a guy employed by the demon leaders, it’s like Jason Voorhees is coming for you – an unspeaking, unmoved, undead force of violence.
The stakes here are not “will Sakata make it out of this one alive”, but “what the hell is going to happen next… well, I didn’t think it would be that“.
This is the perfect mark for a movie like this to hit – I’m obviously not worried the main character might die part way through, but I was locked into this movie solidly for its tidy 107-minute run time because I couldn’t wait to see what the next big fight scene would be. They’re not all as successful at one-upping each other every time as might make it truly one of the best Netflix movies, but it really works for me.
At times, the cause-and-effect, Rube-Goldberg-esque choreography almost feels comedic – not because it’s poor or overly silly, but because you’re used to seeing something like this in a Jackie Chan movie. The cheesy electric guitar soundtrack kind of helps to maintain this sometimes OTT tone – it’d be wrong in most movies, but it’s all mixed in the right proportions here.
I mean, there are clearly flaws here – it’s lacking in character depth; obviously there’s an upper limit to how much emotional investment you’ll make in a movie where the stakes are most “what wild thing will happen next”; the last fight is maybe the weakest and slightly outstays its welcome (though certainly has its moments) – but I had a great time, and it’s easy to have any concerns washed away by a banger of a final scene that subverts the sequel tease you expect from every movie these days.
But as a fun, brutal, tight action movie for a long weekend? I had a blast.
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