Junk (1999)
Directed by Atsushi Muroga
Starring: Nobuyuki Asano, Osamu Ebara
Genre: Zombie/Action
Running Time: 83mins

Rating:

Following a jewellery heist, four criminals arrange a rendez-vous with some local Yakuza to sell their loot at an abandoned warehouse. Unluckily for them, the warehouse is a top secret military base, in which the super drug DMX is being finely tuned. DMX has the power to bring back the dead, however, the implications are unimaginable. Finding themselves in a battle between zombies, Yakuza and the military the gang must overcome all odds not only to survive the carnage but also escape with the loot.

Oh dear. Never has there been such a literal title for a film, this is pure and simple junk. It is a sign of my lack of enjoyment for this film that the only positive merit for Murago's film is that for one brief moment we get to see a hot chick naked. Yes - in order to praise anything for this film I am reduced to adolescent pleasures, and one that is only fleeting, for Junk is an uninspired, zero budgeted TV movie that isn't fit to lick the boots of the recent trend of Japanese zombie flicks such as Versus or Wild Zero.

The reasons are simple, it's poorly acted, poorly choreographed, poorly shot and edited, and furthermore has not one original concept of its own. Everything you expect to happen will happen, but executed in the worse way possible. The fact remains that if it were not for the purpose of this review I would not have made it to the end of its short, yet agonisingly slow running time.

The plot is straight out of a 50's B-Movie, but whereas Wild Zero cranked up the cheese and made light of it's plot, Junk has the audacity to take itself seriously and it fails on every single level. While I am writing this review a number of complaints are entering my mind in rapid succession. Such is the sporadic nature of the film that it makes writing a cohesive review difficult.

First up - characterisation. Wafer-thin. Every good character has his or her conflict of desire and need, in Junk this is not the case - either they get what they want, or they die. No-one is learning anything, and some may say "what do you expect - this is a zombie movie bring on the blood!" - but bare with me for I am painting a picture of just how hollow an experience Junk is. Everything about Junk is under-developed and wreaks of a poor production value. Inexplicably for the opening third a Japanese doctor converses with US military officials in contrasting languages. The military asking questions in English and the Doctor answering them in Japanese - some may be forgiven for thinking this is a replication of the bilingual trend pushed forward by Miike - but later on in the film the reason is clear : the actor simply has a basic grasp of the English language. And while he chews each and every line at every opportunity, he still manages to out act the US cast who you feel would have difficulty landing a role in a student film let alone a major production.

The emotional core of Junk amounts to nothing more than immature sensibilities, it is therefore unsurprising that the true goal of the film is not peace of mind, but a fast car and money. And so we come to the one and only raison d'etre of Junk - as a mindless action movie. And once more, even with its isolated purpose, it still fails to impress with substandard special effects and shoot outs that are not in the least bit exciting, the only reason to watch becomes yet another reason not to.

There is so much more to criticize about Junk; from the idiotic use of computer technology to the heavy handed attempts at adding an emotional depth to the proceedings, but it would take a fairly lengthy review to cover all of its shortcomings.

Overall there is no real reason to see Junk other than to be aware that there are bad films being made in Japan. With the increasing influx of weird and wonderful films being imported Junk certainly goes some way in balancing out perceptions. Mixing elements of Reservoir Dogs and Day of the Dead but without any of the class, Junk can not even be classed as so bad it's good. It's just bad.