I knew going in that "Sukiyaki Western Django" was either going to be absolutely awful, or absolutely spectacular. That's usually the way that Takashi Miike's films are. He's one of Japan's most prolific directors, having made over seventy films, which range from the wildly surreal "Gozu" to the kids adventure film "The Great Yokai War". Some of his stuff is classic, and some of it is so awful it can hardly be sat through.
However, despite all this, I had pretty high hopes for "Sukiyaki" because it was partly produced by Quentin Tarantino, who also has a wildly hilarious role in the film, AND because it also stars Masanobu Ando, one of my favorite Japanese actors, who is best known for playing killer student Kazuo Kiriyama in "Battle Royale" and Yusuke Iseya, from the super insane "Casshern".
Fortunately, I wasn't disappointed, but I wasn't knocked out either. "Sukiyaki" is best enjoyed as two hours of craziness that makes only the least bit of sense, but looks incredibly awesome and will at different times have you laughing out loud and staring at the screen with your jaw on the floor. The whole thing is very stylized and surreal; a mix between spaghetti westerns, samurai films, punk rock, and pirate movies. The cinematography is one thing that truly stands out. The colors are all gorgeously saturated and the sets are stunning. The actors all speak English, which adds to the who surreality of the thing, as no one is able to really emote while struggling to speak a language they aren't familiar with. This is the second time Miike has made a film this way, the first was his entry for the Showtime series "Masters of Horror", called "Imprint", which was banned from air due to it's extreme violence. That episode happens to be, in my mind, one of the Miike's worst attempts, and the actors' stumbling doesn't help it, but in "Sukiyaki" it adds to the comical aspect of the film.
I definitely recommend this film for fans of Tarantino and Miike, and also for anyone looking for some crazy good fun. But don't expect a masterpiece folks, this is pulpy cult cinema at it's best, you're not gonna find much substance here...
