I'll start by saying this: Mark Dacascos is one of the most under-rated martial arts performers ever, usually playing someone's antagonist or sidekick. But speaking of kicking, the man is unbelievably talented as an on-screen martial artist, and has great screen presence as well. "Crying Freeman" based off the long-running famous Japanese manga/anime by Kazuo Koike is an odd 90's bit of shlock that attempted to make a star out of Dacascos, along with other 90s entries "Only the Strong" and "Drive" (spoiler alert: both are better movies than this).
The premise of Crying Freeman has potential, but is filled with quirkiness, and I can see why this movie never had a mainstream US release (aside from ordering a region-free DVD from specialty distributors, the movie has only been released in the US legally in 2018 on Amazon Prime Video, which is how I saw it). The ideas in it are a mixture of complex and rehashed, but based in manga motifs that only work questionably in a major film release. We have a story of a deadly hitman who used to be an award-winning...pottery artist (sure, okay), who witnessed a murder by the Chinese mafia and was then brainwashed (through acupuncture of all things!) into being an expendable murderer for the gang's next hit, but upon seeing his efficiency and skill, the mafia decides to keep him on-board and train him into being their number one assassin, supposedly able to be subconsciously commanded to kill at will, without hesitation due to his brainwashing. His true conscience and personality attempts to fight back and manifest despite his conditioning, and every time he takes a life or finishes a mission, Freeman uncontrollably sheds tears (hence the "crying" in the name, the "freeman" being an ironic, taunting nickname given to him by the gang, as he's anything but what that name implies).
There's interesting stuff there, and when a beautiful artist (named Emu? Is her mother "Ostritch? This is a name that should've been adjusted to "Emmy" or "Emma" in the live-action release, especially since they didn't use an Asian actress to play the role) who's the daughter of a government official witnesses one of his kills, he falls in love with her and starts to question his allegiance and fight back against his conditioning, resulting in him having to make a stand against his masters and deal with the effects of his rebellion throughout the crime world.
It all sounds decent on paper, but a mix of poor writing and odd production choices (probably due to budget constraints to give them the benefit of the doubt) keep Crying Freeman from achieving its potential. Director Christophe Gans clearly knows how to work a camera and has skill at making a shot: there's some legitimately good-looking shots and scenes in this movie, with quality locations at times. His other collaboration with Dacascos, the fun, genre-blending "Brotherhood of the Wolf" from the early 00s, demonstrates Gans' talents much more effectively. One of the major problems with Crying Freeman is an addiction to slooooow-mooootion, bringing every fight or action scene to a crawl. A lot of the worst hallmarks of 90s action are on display in Freeman: not just the slow motion, but also a protagonist who never needs to reload his weapons, uses unnecessary and energy-wasting gymnastics in the middle of fight scenes, can blind fire into groups of well-armed goons and effortlessly hit every single one of them lethally, and rarely ever taking cover in a firefight, despite bullets flying everywhere. There's several shots where it's established that an enemy has a clear line of fire at Freeman, and somehow, despite shooting, doesn't hit him.
Modern series like "John Wick" (that Dacascos would ironically go on to star in much later in his career, also as a Katana-wielding assassin) have made going back in time to watch action like this hard. Even back then, there were better-choreographed gun battles as seen in many Hong Kong-made John Woo films around and even before that time period, but the gun battles here haven't aged well. The tactics and strategies Freeman uses, who we're told time and again is a masterful assassin through dialog, are either basic or almost totally non-existent. Clearly, choreographing complex action wasn't a top priority.
It struck me as such an odd choice to have a world-class martial arts star cast in something that would have plenty of opportunity for fighting to happen, and then have so few moments where you have that star showcase his skills. Without surprise, the final where Emu (bawk, bawk...do emus go 'bawk'?) and Freeman make their stand against hordes of Yakuza is the best part of the movie, allowing Mark Dacascos to really tear into the goons, even if it's too brief. Something else odd about this flick is how voice-dubbing is used. Tcheky Karyo, who played a wonderfully over-the-top, corrupt police commissioner in Kiss of the Dragon, bizzarely has his voice dubbed over by none other than "Hellboy" great Ron Perlman. Why not just cast Ron Perlman if you didn't like Karyo's accent? Or have Karyo's character be a French-national who's immigrated, explaining his accent? Apparently, Julie Condra who plays Emu was also dubbed over, and that makes sense since her whispery, almost softcore porn-style narration starts to grate on you about midway through the movie.
Between the cast, director, and concept, there was potential here. Speaking of the cast, the great, also underappreciated Bryon Mann shines in his supporting role as the cold, ruthless Koh, Freeman's main point of contact and handler for his missions. You also have a cameo from screen-legend Mako, made famous from Conan the Barbarian and the cartoon series Samurai Jack, so clearly the production was able to pull in some top-class talent. Crying Freeman was still enjoyable to me due to sometimes decent cinematography, a solid ambient soundtrack, my nostalgia for 90's cheese-fests, my love of anime and manga as a medium, and my fandom behind some of the cast, but that's me. Unless you're a Dacascos fan, a fan of the source material, or can find the fun in unintentionally funny action romps from this era, I would say that Crying Freeman is something that you can let slip by, but if you do end up seeing it, you won't be shedding tears, either. I give this time-capsule curiosity a 6 out 10. With some writing tweaks, a good cast, a solid choreographer, and a cameo for a now middle-aged Dacascos, a remake of Crying Freeman could do really well.
The premise of Crying Freeman has potential, but is filled with quirkiness, and I can see why this movie never had a mainstream US release (aside from ordering a region-free DVD from specialty distributors, the movie has only been released in the US legally in 2018 on Amazon Prime Video, which is how I saw it). The ideas in it are a mixture of complex and rehashed, but based in manga motifs that only work questionably in a major film release. We have a story of a deadly hitman who used to be an award-winning...pottery artist (sure, okay), who witnessed a murder by the Chinese mafia and was then brainwashed (through acupuncture of all things!) into being an expendable murderer for the gang's next hit, but upon seeing his efficiency and skill, the mafia decides to keep him on-board and train him into being their number one assassin, supposedly able to be subconsciously commanded to kill at will, without hesitation due to his brainwashing. His true conscience and personality attempts to fight back and manifest despite his conditioning, and every time he takes a life or finishes a mission, Freeman uncontrollably sheds tears (hence the "crying" in the name, the "freeman" being an ironic, taunting nickname given to him by the gang, as he's anything but what that name implies).
There's interesting stuff there, and when a beautiful artist (named Emu? Is her mother "Ostritch? This is a name that should've been adjusted to "Emmy" or "Emma" in the live-action release, especially since they didn't use an Asian actress to play the role) who's the daughter of a government official witnesses one of his kills, he falls in love with her and starts to question his allegiance and fight back against his conditioning, resulting in him having to make a stand against his masters and deal with the effects of his rebellion throughout the crime world.
It all sounds decent on paper, but a mix of poor writing and odd production choices (probably due to budget constraints to give them the benefit of the doubt) keep Crying Freeman from achieving its potential. Director Christophe Gans clearly knows how to work a camera and has skill at making a shot: there's some legitimately good-looking shots and scenes in this movie, with quality locations at times. His other collaboration with Dacascos, the fun, genre-blending "Brotherhood of the Wolf" from the early 00s, demonstrates Gans' talents much more effectively. One of the major problems with Crying Freeman is an addiction to slooooow-mooootion, bringing every fight or action scene to a crawl. A lot of the worst hallmarks of 90s action are on display in Freeman: not just the slow motion, but also a protagonist who never needs to reload his weapons, uses unnecessary and energy-wasting gymnastics in the middle of fight scenes, can blind fire into groups of well-armed goons and effortlessly hit every single one of them lethally, and rarely ever taking cover in a firefight, despite bullets flying everywhere. There's several shots where it's established that an enemy has a clear line of fire at Freeman, and somehow, despite shooting, doesn't hit him.
Modern series like "John Wick" (that Dacascos would ironically go on to star in much later in his career, also as a Katana-wielding assassin) have made going back in time to watch action like this hard. Even back then, there were better-choreographed gun battles as seen in many Hong Kong-made John Woo films around and even before that time period, but the gun battles here haven't aged well. The tactics and strategies Freeman uses, who we're told time and again is a masterful assassin through dialog, are either basic or almost totally non-existent. Clearly, choreographing complex action wasn't a top priority.
It struck me as such an odd choice to have a world-class martial arts star cast in something that would have plenty of opportunity for fighting to happen, and then have so few moments where you have that star showcase his skills. Without surprise, the final where Emu (bawk, bawk...do emus go 'bawk'?) and Freeman make their stand against hordes of Yakuza is the best part of the movie, allowing Mark Dacascos to really tear into the goons, even if it's too brief. Something else odd about this flick is how voice-dubbing is used. Tcheky Karyo, who played a wonderfully over-the-top, corrupt police commissioner in Kiss of the Dragon, bizzarely has his voice dubbed over by none other than "Hellboy" great Ron Perlman. Why not just cast Ron Perlman if you didn't like Karyo's accent? Or have Karyo's character be a French-national who's immigrated, explaining his accent? Apparently, Julie Condra who plays Emu was also dubbed over, and that makes sense since her whispery, almost softcore porn-style narration starts to grate on you about midway through the movie.
Between the cast, director, and concept, there was potential here. Speaking of the cast, the great, also underappreciated Bryon Mann shines in his supporting role as the cold, ruthless Koh, Freeman's main point of contact and handler for his missions. You also have a cameo from screen-legend Mako, made famous from Conan the Barbarian and the cartoon series Samurai Jack, so clearly the production was able to pull in some top-class talent. Crying Freeman was still enjoyable to me due to sometimes decent cinematography, a solid ambient soundtrack, my nostalgia for 90's cheese-fests, my love of anime and manga as a medium, and my fandom behind some of the cast, but that's me. Unless you're a Dacascos fan, a fan of the source material, or can find the fun in unintentionally funny action romps from this era, I would say that Crying Freeman is something that you can let slip by, but if you do end up seeing it, you won't be shedding tears, either. I give this time-capsule curiosity a 6 out 10. With some writing tweaks, a good cast, a solid choreographer, and a cameo for a now middle-aged Dacascos, a remake of Crying Freeman could do really well.