VERSUS (2001)
Directed by Ryuhei Kitamura
Starring: Tak Sakaguchi, Hideo Sakaki, Chieko Misaka
Genre: Yakuza/Action/Zombie/Comedy/Martial Arts
Running Time: 120mins

Rating:

Somewhere in the forests of Japan is a 666 portal, wherein the dead shall rise again. Elsewhere, two escaped prisoners run through the forest to their meeting point with local yakuza who for reasons unknown will provide both with a getaway car. After a conflict of interests arises over the presence of a kidnapped female between both the yakuza, and one of the prisoners it seems the only outcome will be violence.

One shot later, and a yakuza member dead the spaghetti western style face off is turned upside down when the recently deceased returns to life thus starting a chain of events involving an age old battle from feudal times, bucket loads of violence and fear as the Yakuza realize that this very same area of forest has been the burial place for all of their little problems.

Okay - so film logic and cinematic coincidence dictates that the characters we meet will meet in this exact forest, it also dictates that the mysterious prisoner will cause conflicts with the Yakuza, so far so clichéd. But from that point onwards, once that shot is fired - film logic and cinematic coincidence can go straight to hell. This is Ryuhei Kitamura's film, and the world abides by his rules. Shot with considerable flair on an incredibly low budget, Versus is kept by its budgetary limitations to its singular location of the forest, and is all the better for it. There is absolutely no point at all in trying to unearth any greater meaning for this film, there is no social commentary, there are no links to cultural or political problems, this is purely and simply entertainment.

The camerawork for this film is consistently impressive, weaving in and out of the forestry, dropping down from crane shots, steadicam circling of characters, the wide angled lenses combined with close-up concave lenses to add a visual sheen to the film that would convince you of a much higher budget than in reality. In parts the colours are slightly garish, but the quality is very impressive considering, meanwhile the action is fast paced, frenetic and clearly done by professionals.

Acting cannot truly be criticized, everyone is far too busy looking cool for emotion to creep in, and for a film devoted entirely to style over content, the actors do the best they can. Tak Sakaguchi plays a likeable hero, unfettered by all situations throughout, slicing and dicing through those in his way, and picking up their clothing piece by piece in a series of ironic humorous moments. But most impressive is Kenji Matsuda who presents one of the most wildly over the top villains in a film, a man of sheer lunacy, unpredictability but also with shades of uncustomary moments of understated cool.

Versus is the kind of film which works best when watched amidst a group of friends, and a group of beers, the film excels in its outrageousness with violence treated in the same way as Peter Jacksons Braindead, for laughs.

You will see a lot better films from Japan than Versus, this is far from a masterpiece. But at the same time you are unlikely to find a more entertaining kung-fu, zombie, yakuza, action, supernatural, comedy than this.

A must see movie.