Tokyo Tribe **** (2014, Ryôhei Suzuki, Riki Takeuchi, Young Dais, Ryûta Satô) – Movie Review

With a pounding soundtrack of rhyming Japanese rap (the English sub-title translations rhyme as well!), writer-director Shion Sono’s musical fight movie, based on Santa Inoue’s magna series is sensational. It’s as full-on as its is completely crazy.

All kinds of weird hell let loose when a street gang war breaks out in an alternate Japan. Ryôhei Suzuki stars as Merra, the leader of the Wu-Ronz tribe of Bukuro, joins forces with heavy hitting sadistic gangster Buppa (Riki Takeuchi, amusingly way over the top) of Buppa Town to conquer all of Tokyo.

Merra starts a gang war between his Wu-Ronz and the Musashino Saru, and tries to kill the popular Kai (Young Dais) but kills Kai’s friend Tera (Ryûta Satô) by mistake. All-out war ensues. Cue mega-mayhem.

The invention and dynamism are absolutely incredible in a movie that never lets up for two hours and delivers its bad-boy sense of fun brilliantly enjoyably. Tokyo Tribe is the very kind of movie Tarantino would like to make in his dreams. Maybe he’ll remake it one day.

Tokyo Tribe mounts a formidable assault on the senses and sensibilities. There’s a lot of truly reprehensible violence and some pervy stuff, but the story has a moral core, with the whole darned shooting just coming down to a visit to the sauna and penis envy. War, what is it goof for? Absolutely nothing. Say it again!

© Derek Winnert 2015 Movie Review

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