Bad City - Blu-ray Review

[Michael Scott]

Bad City



Movie:
Video:
Audio:
Extras:
Final Score:



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Movie
I had very little information on which to base my opinion of Bad City outside of the trailer (it just passed under my radar), but judging from the cover and trailer it looked like we were going to be hit with a gritty, dramatic, Yakuza crime thriller. Color me surprised to find it a bit more light hearted than that, with a more traditional gangster take, but actually a few mild sub plots of sweet kinship, honor, and Japanese martial arts all blended together to make an almost “serious take” comic book movie. Bady City isn’t going to make someone compare it to Infernal Affairs, or even the Hollywood gangster flicks of the Joe Pesci and Robert DeNiro days, but it is a surprisingly fun and agile popcorn flick that kept me entertained for 2 hours.

The film opens up with our villain being introduced in the form of slimy entrepreneur Gojo (Lily Franky) who just oozes villainous greaseball flavor just from his introduction. Turns out he’s just gotten out of a conviction by knowing the right people, and is out and going to make a huge play for Mayor of the city in an obvious bid for power. Simultaneously a group of murders connected to the Korean Mafia and Goju spur on an attempt by the local police force to take down Gojo once and for all. But instead of choosing a typical detective unit to take the case, the chief chooses to deputize a small off the books task force to do what the regular police can not. Heading up the unit is disgraced former police captain (serving time for suspected murder) Torada (Hitoshi Ozawa) along with detectives Kuma (Katsuya Takagi) and Ryota (Mansanori Mimoto, as well as rookie Megumi Nohara (Akane Sakanoue). There job is to find Gojo’s weak spot, and hit him where he lives.

The film is a high flying adventure film that doesn’t really take a ton of time to set up somber crosses and double crosses. Instead it plays things straight forward, with very few super duper twists that the audience can’t seen coming. Instead of a super interconnected crime story ala Infernal Affairs (the police gangster movie by which all other asian gangster movies are judged by), Torada and his team are a 4 man (well, 1 woman) wrecking crew, tearing through the Yakuza members and Korean Mafia alike to get to the head honchos. For a low budget film like this I was worried we would get some over convoluted mess of drama that would overshadow the action and bog the entire production down, but instead director Kensuke Sonomura chooses for a very fast and very light weight gangster drama that focuses more on the action than it does on in depth layers and double crossing facets that most gangster movies are known for.

I’m not going to say that I was blown away by Bad City, but I was pleasantly surprised. After being totally exhausted burning through the 12 film Shaw Brothers set and a few major blockbusters I was literally POOPED by the time I got to this film. So when I say that I was smiling and not looking at the clock while I watched a 2 hour Yakuza movie, that should tell you just how smooth and easy this film goes down. One thing that really stood out was the fight choreography. I was expecting Katanas and Shotokan Karate, but instead the film utilized a strange blend of Japanese boxing and grappling, which turned out to make for some really intriguing fight sequences. The scene in the hallway with Ryota and Megumi vs. the knife wielding villain was one of the best I’d seen in a long time, and the use of gunplay between Torada and the final villain was just as good. Again, maybe not a perfect film, but definitely a fun one.




Rating:

Not Rated by the MPAA




Video:

I couldn’t find much info on cameras used, or the master struck, but my guess would be a 2K digital intermediate master and some form of digital cameras judging by the image. But it is a very competently done digital film, with a strong green and yellow tinge for most of the production (there’s a few amber tinged outdoor sequences that don’t look bathed in the color grading), with a sort of sickly look to it that is pretty common place in Japanese films. Fine details are very very nice for the most part, and clarity is generally very sharp. The only really bad thing I can say about the image is that it can get a bit bogged down in that sickly yellow/green tone with black levels looking rather anemic and murky as a result. All in all a solid looking encode that is very heavily stylized.









Audio:

The Japanese 5.1 DTS-HD MA track is probably the best part of the whole technical package, with a very robust surround mix that kicks you in the teeth and doesn’t let go. The action is octane and all around the listening position, while the bass kicks in nicely (albeit not too aggressively) for gunshots and fist impacts. The softer aspects of the film come through nicely as well, with strong dialog and soft ambient noises bleeding through in the surround channels.












Extras:

• Theatrical Trailer
• Well Go USA Trailers

Final Score: ​

The plot travels well worn tropes that many a gangster flick before it has traveled, but the fun part is that the director himself seems to recognize that and play light with them. The film never takes it self too seriously, but rather just has as much fun with the tropes as it can, while allowing for a serious plot to unfold. The action is pushed to the forefront so as not to show the cracks in the narrative armor, and the fast moving story doesn’t slow down enough to really cause one to over analyze things. The Blu-ray itself looks and sounds great (minimal extras as usual), so I’m happy to report a fun watch.


Technical Specifications:

Starring: Hitoshi Ozawa, Akane Sakanoue, Katsuya Takagi, Ryota Nishizaki
Directed by: Kensuke Sonomura
Aspect Ratio: 2.39:1 AVC
Audio: Japanese: DTS-HD MA 5.1, English DTS-HD MA 5.1, English, Japanese DD 2.0
Subtitles: English SDH
Studio: Well Go USA
Rated: NR
Runtime: 119 minutes
Blu-Ray Release Date: September 19th, 2023

Recommendation: Fun Watch

 

[tripplej]

Thanks for the review. Never heard of this one prior to this review. Will check it out.