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Versus (II) (2000)
9/10
Highly entertaining film!
15 April 2005
I came across versus by chance, and thought that the premise described on the back of the DVD sounded interesting. I enjoy watching all kinds of film genres, so I thought "why not?! If it's bad I'll just stop watching". I popped it in my DVD player and was thoroughly entertained for the next two hours or so.

The gist of the story is: Two convicts who manage to escape their police escorts, run into a forest to meet up with some shady looking Yakuzas, who they believe will take them to a safe place. The lead character who is only known as Prisoner KSC2-303 (please note none of the characters have names) doesn't quite trust them, especially when he finds out that they have brought a kidnapped girl along for the ride. There is a stand off. Insults are exchanged (I especially enjoyed Prisoner KSC2-303's comments).Guns are fired, and one of the yakuzas as well as the other convict are shot, and consequently come back to life as zombies. We later find out that the head yakuza that shows up a little later in the film, is a five hundred year old demon/vampire/sorcerer who wants to open the gates of hell and thus gain incredible power. In order to do so, he needs the girl's blood (isn't that always the way?). It seems that the forest they are in, is the 444th portal to hell.It is also known as the forest of resurrection where the dead come back to life. It's also a popular burial ground for people the yakuzas have bumped off over the years. So as one might guess, there are a whole bunch of zombies walking around (with loaded guns I might add). What follows are a lot of fights; knife fights, gun fights, hand to hand combat, fights with big samurai swords. Everybody in this film fights. Even the girl who is supposed to be completely helpless manages to hit a few people. There are many more details that I have left out, as that would give away all the plot twists. IMHO, the less you known about the film the more likely it is that you will enjoy it.

As well as action and gore (there is plenty of gore) the film has a lot of humorous moments that I think work really well (they had me giggling). The action is great. The fight choreography is well executed, particularly the final fight between prisoner ksc2-303 and the main "bad" guy. The acting was also quite good. I liked the performances from the two male leads. However, there was one performance that to begin with was rather amusing, but went slightly over the top towards the end (if you watch this film, then you will know who I'm talking about).

Overall, this is a really fun, funny and enjoyable film, which manages to blend a whole range of genres rather competently.It may not be everyone's cup of tea,but I think if you're an open-minded film viewer, who enjoys watching films that are a little quirky and unconventional,you may like it. I've watched this film many times and still enjoy it as much as I did the first time I watched it. I look forward to Versus 2.
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