Waste of time

hyped garbage

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

The acting is good, and the firecracker script has some excellent ideas.

TW: Rape, sexual violence. This is my first Imdb review and i'm writing it partly because this film was tricky for me to rate, partly with the hope that someone who isn't okay with seeing simulated rape can be spared from watching this, and partly because it really unsettled me and affected me. So the movie opens with a brutal and explicit rape scene, which really caught me off guard. I'm still left wondering why they included this. Although i understand that the movie is an exploration of senseless gang/crime related violence, as well as themes of sadomasochism (mostly sadism let's face it), this scene was extremely uncomfortable, and i'd much rather watch simple physical torture scenes over and over than be forced to witness the complete degradation and dehumanisation of not one but two women, repeatedly. This is what really got to me- there are multiple rape scenes and furthermore constant flashbacks to another incident of rape, this left me on edge throughout the whole movie and really distracted me from the core themes of hypermasculinity and violence among these men who seem to be completely devoid of any real emotion or compassion, and all the main characters are totally self involved, obsessed with their self indulgent fantasies. Although it would have had great potential as more of an action comedy with underlying deeper themes exploring violence, in the end it felt lacking in delivering any substantial message or insight, and really just became the very thing it was supposed to/could have been critical of. The characters were completely disgusting, but they seemed to be portrayed as neutral, not bad or good, which didn't make sense to me. Not only this but all 3 of the only women in this movie were brutally raped, beaten and killed. Granted most people were killed in this movie but the thing that really turned me off this movie was the emphasis on gendered sexual violence towards women in this movie. There was no reason for it as far as I can see, and contributed nothing to the plot. Aside from all this the concept of a "superhero" type character completely repressed and devoid of morality killing people who he thinks are bullies and crying while doing so was pretty funny, and as i said i wish this movie played up that comedy more, instead it left me feeling like it was making a mockery out of violence particularly violence against women, whose stories were treated with complete disrespect.

I've seen reviews that talked about having to turn this film off every 20 min to catch their breath, how it's gag inducing, or the hardest film they ever watched. I ate dinner while watching this. It is not a cinematic masterpiece. It's simplistic, dumb, and show almost none of the violence people talk about. The most violent thing in the film is a girl that accidently gets her throat cut and bleeds out. I have seen films way more violent than this. For crying out loud kill bill is more violent. 99% of the violence in this film is simply implied or all you see is a bit of the aftermath. What is the big freaking deal with this film. There is nothing overly deep here. I expected way more than a guy with 2in blades in his shoes somehow slicing people in half. The film isn't the stylistic masterpiece it's made out to be. If this is a 7 on style scale then Crank is an 11 it has infinitely more stlye the story is just as bad. The hype around this film is dumb.

Takeshi Miki a cult Japanese director this was always on the watchlist, also based on a manga series it was bound to be a good watch.I heard beforehand it was a gore fest, but as an avid horror watcher it wouldn't be a problem. Also this movie isn't actually a horror, its based on rival Yakuza gangs in Japan.The basic storyline Is gang boss Anjo has fled with a prostitute and millions of yen. His sadomasochistic henchman Kakihara along with fellow gang members are on the hunt for him. They capture rival gangster Jiji and torture him to reveal whereabouts but to no avail and release him. Unbeknown to them Jiji has been manipulating Ichi a young man with great skills into murdering, and now he is after Kakihura and the other gang members.Gore at its finest. This movie explores the lengths of what gangsters do to find out the truth and cut of people as quickly as you can say that

Takashi Miike is never far from the centre of controversy. "Audition" (1999), is a fantastic movie and one of the best horror movies Japan has to offer. It's only nature that Miike would return to his roots with the yakuza genre sooner or later, but who knew it would be this intense?Based on Hideo Yamamoto's manga series. "Ichi The Killer" tells the story of rival yakuza gangs and the involvement of a scarred and psychologically damaged man, Ichi, who is manipulated into assaulting or killing rival faction members. Leading to sadomasochistic yakuza enforcer Kakihara, to eagerly await a final showdown with this supposed "dangerous" individual.Without really spoiling anything, the title credits set the tone for this movie by literally appearing in Ichi's ejaculation. So there clearly is a level of taste in this film that may or may not be for you, the film is outright banned in several locations because of this. I've seen it once and its shock value does overwhelm its pacing in many areas, with the final 40 minutes becoming much clearer when following the narrative. Music-wise the soundtrack is pretty great and either way the movie is a mess in terms of gore and story telling, yet there is something surprisingly engrossing where certain events take you. Maybe I missed a lot the first time viewing and it runs a little too long for its own good, but I really found myself enjoying it and inevitably eager to see it again.Final Verdict: In essence, "Ichi The Killer" is pretty forgetful when considering Takashi's other works. But if you're a fan of his then I highly recommend it. 7/10.