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You know when you watch a trailer to an action movie and when it’s over you immediately watch it again , it’s probably going to be a good one. 2023 has been a bounce back year for action cinema and the pandemic certainly did its best to crush it a few years back so it’s been nothing short of exhilarating to see this amount of top notch output this year. From early on, this year has shown us that whether it be full on blockbusters like John Wick or Extraction 2 or smaller indie fair like Warhorse One and The Channel, this genre is kicking ass once again.
Asian action cinema is also making a name for itself this year and now we have another notch in the belt for 2023 with the Japanese import Bad City which features the very underrated, and one of my all time favorite ass kickers, Tak Sakaguchi. There’s just something about a criminal underworld thriller that gets your blood pumping and Bad City hits you over the head from the beginning until the credits roll.
In terms of plot, this one is easy to follow. Kaiko City is a place besieged by crime and violence. It’s the kind of place where you probably want to wear Kevlar when you venture out of your home. To make matters worse, a corrupt businessman is running for mayor and to make sure he secures his place of power, he proceeds to eliminate rival mafia members with brutal and efficient extreme prejudice.
To counter act this, the good guys call on former police Captain Torada (Hitoshi Ozawa) who is currently serving time in prison because he was given the rawest of deals. Upon release, Torada is out and immediately put in charge of an elite task force to battle the corruption and stop the mayoral candidate by any means necessary.
Upon seeing the initial trailer, I pretty much assumed that this was going to be right in my wheelhouse and sure enough, upon completing my viewing I was 100% correct. Bad City is a mean movie that isn’t for everyone but fans of action and this particular subgenre will gravitate towards it with no problem. It oozes a dark, foreboding atmosphere with characters that aren’t very likable and that’s the good guys and the tone is equivalent to what came out of the 70’s when it came to morbid crime thrillers.
As Torada, Ozawa is cast perfectly as the take no shit cop who runs his unit with the strongest of iron fists. He knows they’re in for the fight of their lives so no mistakes will be tolerated with him. Ozawa doesn’t look like your average action anti-hero but even though he’s older, he proves that age is just a number and he excels in the film’s numerous set pieces.
The biggest draw for me is Tak. One of Asia’s most underrated stars, Tak is one of those actors that believes in quality over quantity as he has starred in only a handful of movies over the years. Think of him as the Japanese Johnny Strong. Tak is a phenomenal action talent and he moves like nobody and it’s literally a ballet of extreme when he breaks into action. Here, he’s on bad guy duties as he stars as the main henchman and he gets ample opportunity to shine and showcase his signature and lethal empty handed skills. His fights are always top tier with no equal and in Bad City, he never utters a word as he lets his actions and his fists and feet do the talking. The sequences involving Tak are some of the most impressive to date.
Director Kensuke Sonomura has really set the bar high here with some of the most technically fierce fight action that has surfaced in 2023. Sonomura knows action and how it should be represented onscreen and he delivers some of the most innovative clashes ever. The camera captures all the bloodletting with near perfect execution and this movie is the best compliment to some of the more over the top actioners like Extraction. Sonomura orchestrates a bloody ballet of excess and this is throwback cinema to a tee.
The pacing in Bad City is probably one of the biggest problems I had with the film as it takes a while to get things going. There’s moments of violence sprinkled through but it’s not until the second half and most importantly the last half an hour where action fans will feel elated as the finale is everything you could hope for in terms of high-octane, adrenaline soaked carnage.
It’s important to note that the choreography in the set pieces are extreme but realistic with no extreme flash but just authentic and natural violence that hits the viewer over the head with some major blunt force trauma. When the dust settles and the credits roll, viewers will need to wipe the sweat off their brows as if they were involved with the bloody altercations.
Overall, Bad City is as advertised. It’s a gritty, brutal and unapologetic look at the world of the Yakuza, the criminal underworld and the cops who have the thankless and deadly duty to quell the violence. The pacing lags at the beginning but the second half more than atones for it with some of the most ballistic scenes of mayhem caught on film this year.
Hitoshi Ozawa is perfect as the stalwart anti-hero in charge of the forces of good and Tak Sakaguchi once again proves that he’s the best in the business of ass kicking on celluloid. His henchman is one of the most effective villains this year and I can’t wait to see him on screen again
Bad City reminds action fans that Japanese action cinema, when done right, is one of the most effective that Asia has to offer. We’ve been talking a lot about Korea and what they’ve been doing but here it’s like it’s the 90’s all over again when Japan was tops in the genre.
VERDICT: 4 Out of 5 Stars
ACTION-FLIX APPROVED & ESSENTIAL VIEWING
Bad City is an Action Movie that is Just Simply Bad Ass!
Director Kensuke Sonomura’s Action-Packed Crime Thriller Hits Digital Exclusively Today, Before Landing on Blu-ray™ & DVD September 19 with an All-New English Dub!
Looks sweet.