Takashi Miike has a winning streak - all of his films are addictively superb! This sequel to the 1999 ultra violent gangster film is toning down on the violence (I mean toning down on the frequency of the violence, upping the scale.) and is more a film about friendship,death and rebirth. The 2 main characters from dead or alive are back playing 2 childhood friends who grew up together in an orphanage and got separated when they left. Since then they have never seen or heard from each other and strangely they've both become hit men. Even more strange is that they've both been hired to hit the same guy - at the same place - at the same time. one takes the hit before the other but the other takes the money for it anyway. They eventually meet and decide to rid the Earth of evil - they find a guy who hires hit men, they do the job, get the money and donate it to the 3rd world countries that have no money for vaccines or food.
In the middle of the film the pair take part in a play, meanwhile, outside the theatre, the triad vs yakuza war (that was started by the duo in the first place)is preparing - my favourite ever ultra violent action sequence in a movie!! The war is shot incredibly realistically and is extremely violent people are shot 8 times in a row and then kicked and punched and slashed with swords.
My favourite Takashi Miike film 10 out of 10.
In the middle of the film the pair take part in a play, meanwhile, outside the theatre, the triad vs yakuza war (that was started by the duo in the first place)is preparing - my favourite ever ultra violent action sequence in a movie!! The war is shot incredibly realistically and is extremely violent people are shot 8 times in a row and then kicked and punched and slashed with swords.
My favourite Takashi Miike film 10 out of 10.