Dead or Alive: Final (2002)
Directed by Takashi Miike
Starring: Sho Aikawa, Riki Takeuchi
Genre: Sci-Fi/Action
Running Time: 86mins

Rating:

The year is 2346, the place Yokohama, Japan. Woo, the dictator for this diseased landscape, aims to create a world where procreation and love are forbidden. With the exception of a handful of rebels he has succeeded in creating a population that is doomed to be the last, fed birth control pills at a regular basis his law is upheld by Honda (played by Takeuchi) a cop, father, and husband who adheres to the law of the land free of affection. And so, in the red corner is Ryo, a replicant with super-human powers who finds himself at the aid of the rebels.

After an accidental kidnapping of Honda's son results in an encounter with Ryo that unlocks the affections of the human nature, Honda's world and the rules he has lived by suddenly seem less straight forward than at first thought.

The title says it all, the final installment in the Dead or Alive franchise. The last head to head of Sho Aikawa and Riki Takeuchi. We've had an apocalypse, children's educational theatre, paddling pools, and angel wings. The question is what, or where could Miike aim his next installment. The answer is everywhere.

Miike is a filmmaker bored by the conventions of genre, his revolution is to make the old, young, to rattle the cages, to put life into the formulaic old dogs of genre. Eventually, it may backfire, as with all things that gain popularity - the ideas get stolen while they're innovative and recycled until they are unusable, until they are old hat. Whether this happens is down to Miike's imagination and his ability to consistently astound us. With 60 films under his belt already in under 10 years, I'd say it's safe to assume there is no end to his talents. This is what makes him such an exciting filmmaker, he loves cinema and he wants us to love it too.

And so, for DOA:FINAL, Miike's influences are as varied as possible : Sci-Fi, Cyberpunk, Hong Kong Action, Anime, Video games. Each of these seem to have reached a cyclical rut, where the tried and tested formulas are recycled, and are reduced to what is now, at best, a one-trick pony. All are in desperate need of a Miike shake up. But is it really what they get?

Throwing all the ingredients together, we are left to pick out the direct lifts (Blade Runner's replicants, Tetsuo's - well, you'll see that for yourself) all maintained within one whole, aimed at creating a singular vehicle of entertainment. Again, as in DOA2 Miike adds the innocence of children to reflect our frailty as adults consumed within a macho-world. In contrast to the original you'd think that Miike is going soft on us. But for those who watch his films for more than gore, you will find that the extra emotional dimension adds more depth in the long run, making the experience much more than a series of shocking reactions.

But what of this film? Well, there is a lot of good to be said for DOA: FINAL. Technically it's impressive, setting the film in the future, Miike does his best with exterior shots rather than using studio settings, casting the horizon with an infected jaundice skyline the sense of oppression and totalitarianism hangs in the air, under the skin and not just as a plot device.

Meanwhile, with all of its influences in place the action sequences are vibrant, fast, exciting and visually stunning - bullets travel towards us in slow-motion leaving a trail of burning oxygen in its wake, gravity is defied (whenever possible), samurai swords appear from nowhere, everyone looks as cool as they can. But for the sum of its parts, there was something about Dead or Alive: Final that didn't quite sit right. Once it had finished I came to realize what it was that bothered me : it wasn't inventive enough.

You'd think that given its setting, premise and influences that such a thing would be impossible, particularly in Miike's hands. But I was left somewhat dissatisfied with this climactic entry to the series. Don't get me wrong, all the usual quirky pre-requisites are intact, including parodies of his own work that are at times, hilarious. However, while these wonderfully weird images are present and correct it is clear that a significant factor of what makes a Miike film is missing.

Gone, it seems, is the ensemble style minor cast. In DOA:FINAL the array of characters are more tightly held together, Miike doesn't roam the world he has created as freely as he used to, and more surprisingly for a Miike film, the characters at hand regularly slip into genre stereotype with little or no characterization. The romantic subplot is inessential and predictable, and while we do get some great moments - the robo-saxophonist/slave and the kids at the cinema are stand-out moments, you can't help but feel that with all the scope, that Miike really should have done a whole lot more - especially considering this as the finale to his franchise.

While Aikawa and Takeuchi pull off with ease their required performances (Takeuchi is once more given more to do than frown while Aikawa continues his playful friend to the oppressed), if DOA:FINAL ultimately fails, then it is because it is DOA:FINAL. The weight of expectation is too much for what is, in all honesty, a sketchy film. Not without its merits, but never more than average, DOA:FINAL is left pale by the sheer energy and originality of its predecessors.