2008 (Japan)
Contains mild spoilers.
A bikini if you
think about it, is quite the sensible choice when it comes to zombie
dispatching apparel. Plenty of freedom to move and react, it's easy to notice
if you've inadvertently received a bite or scratch and it's got to reduce the
laundry workload, what with all the blood and gore. Aya (Eri Otoguro) thinks so
anyway and after watching her in action I'm not going to argue.
Aya is a zombie
slayer extraordinaire. A samurai sword wielding slaughterhouse she slices and
dices her way through the ravenous hordes with poise, surety and a breathtaking
array of moves. As she leaps, spins and somersaults, passing her sword through
the undead as if they were made of butter what is clear from the chaotic and
action packed opening, is that director and co-writer Yohei Fukuda is not going
to stray far from its video game roots. Make no mistake this is comic-book
stuff, pure Japanese fantasy; her moves are exaggerated, her and her sword are
magical and the undead are not going to follow any arbitrary established set of
rules.
The world of man has
fallen and zombies have taken over. It says so, right at the start. Aya and her
cowardly, useless, comedic side-kick Katsuji (Tomohiro Waki) are searching for
their sisters. Unlike Katsuji though, Aya isn't looking for a heart-warming
reunion, she's looking to avenge the death of her father, which Saki (Chise
Nakamura) was responsible. Aya and Katsuji are joined on their mission by the
equally proficient zombie-slayer Reiko (Manami Hashimoto). Reiko is
tight-leather wearing shot-gun wielding death dealer and another broken soul on
a mission of revenge.
It's a thin and
tacked on story in all honesty. An afterthought to move the narrative from one
lavish action sequence to the next. It's well executed and competent enough and
gives Aya and Reiko a bit of back-story and the film some semblance of depth
but it's not something you're going to particularly care about or remember.
What we're here for is the zombie fights.
The zombies are
actually the deranged creation of Dr. Sugita (Tarô Suwa), the text-book evil
villain and are a total hodgepodge of genre and type.
Out on the streets the zombies shuffle and groan, when they fight they go all
fast and gnarly, then there's the somersaulting weapon wielding ones and the
myriad of zombie bosses each with their own super-weapon and quirky identity.
It's pure video game nonsense but not without it's charms. Aya and Reiko go
about dispatching them, as said, with video game speed and agility and a
barrage of CG explosions and slices, as if we're actually watching star wars
and they have a blaster and a light-sabre; Fukuda even has the audacity to include power-ups. It's explosive, well choreographed
and actually quite fun, if a little repetitive at times.
It's hard to be too
critical of Chanbara Beauty. It is what it is. An absurd, over the top comic
book adventure with a director not scared to just go for it. I recently
reviewed another sword fighting zombie film and they share the same lack of
actual content, but at least Chanbara at least tries to keep a smile on our face. Also
despite the emphasis on Aya's attire the film is never tacky or cheap with it,
treating it more like fanciful cosplay than fan-service. Not a film I'd
recommend to the purist but as cheap over the top video game thrill ride it
wasn't too bad. I've also found out there's a sequel, Chanbara Beauty: Vortex
though I don't know if this excites or scares me, 5/10.
WTD.
I wanted to like OneChanbara so much (look at that poster), but I hated it. The CG effects are so cheap and ridiculous. Plus, I was just bored. I wouldn't give it a 1/10 but probably a 3.
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