You won't be disappointed!

an ambitious but ultimately ineffective debut endeavor.

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.

You couldn't put much wrong with Kitano's works in the Nineties: Some yakuza/police classics, with 'Sonatine' and 'Hana-bi' widely regarded as among some of the best Japanese films of the last three decades. There was the slightly out-of-place 'Scene at the Sea' and the delightfully awful 'Getting Any?', but generally, you knew you were getting some quality. The last fifteen years, however, have been a less enjoyable ride. They started reasonably well with 'Brother', 'Dolls' and 'Zatoichi', but since then, there has been little to shout about. Over a decade has brought the ambitious, but confused 'Takeshis'; the enjoyable, but relatively ordinary 'Outrage' films; the okay 'Achilles and the Tortoise'; and the at times bizarre and boring 'Glory to the Filmmaker'. While fans in the West may have over-estimated their brilliance, blinded by love of his earlier works, these a hardly works by a master. Kitano is a man that can wear many hats (not literally usually), and his films can take many forms. With his latest work, 'Ryuzo and his Seven Henchmen', Kitano is in comedy mode, telling the story of retired yakuza, Ryuzo, who reunites his old gang to start a new, ageing 'family' to claim back their old turf from the younger, more corporate group who are currently in control.Naturally, a comedy about ageing yakuza is going to be of the slapstick variety - there is nothing serious to be considered here. What we have are eight bizarre characters, each with his own idiosyncrasies. Though this is not so much the case, with only around half of them actually getting much individual screen-time for character development, serving as little more than comic cameos. This isn't exactly 'Seven Samurai'.Forming their new family, they set about taking on corporate organisations and Keihin United, led by the supposedly slick Nishi. But soon things go wrong, resulting in the sort of farcical ending you expect from a - I'm going to say it - knockabout comedy. Kitano himself makes a cameo as a similarly ageing policeman as 'Beat' Takeshi, and his brief appearance serves as a metaphor (a meta for what?!) or how much thought has gone into this one. Now, taking my Radio 4 hat off and putting my 'movie-goer' one on, was I entertained? Kitano's last few films has suggested he isn't going to be making the artistic films of his Nineties peak. Is it silly, yes; is it stupid, yes. Is it funny, in parts; was I entertained, yes. Like Ryuzo, Kitano is not a young man anymore, and his films will not have the edge and violence of his earlier works; this is a gentler age. There are some moments of nice film-making, with the scene where the old yakuza calculate their criminal points, sat around with a revolving camera capturing the moment in one take. But there is less of the artistry these days, with this a movie to be enjoyed rather than a film to be critiqued. Maybe I am one of those Westerners that search for too much meaning in the films of the 'enigmatic Kitano': the Japanese TV personality or global auteur. 'Ryuzo and his Seven Henchmen' is entertaining enough, but I always found his most funny films to be those that aren't comedies. Still, someone who hides in toilets to stick a knife up his enemies' bums is always good for a laugh...

Honestly, it feels like 2/3rd of the other reviews did not even see the movie. Nudity? There was none besides the old men baring their chests. Smoking hot girl? There's barely any women in the film. You got the fat wife of the main characters son for 10 minutes total, a couple hostesses in 2 scenes and another old hostess friend of the main character who gets the undress the male main character, but stays fully dressed herself. Violence towards normal people? They barely even attack anyone, being elderly versions of the old honorable yakuza cliché. The only fights are against cartoonishly evil crooks that steal from the elderly. Its not even an action movie. There's a few action scenes, but they mostly exists to poke fun at the old guys or are flashbacks that serve as references to older yakuza flicks. Its just a fun getting the gang back together film like the Korean film 'Sunny' or the American 'Stand Up Guys' but not bad like Stand Up Guys was. It won't change anyone's world but it was consistently funny and would satisfy any lover of yakuza films. For anyone who cares, there's no real gore, it sticks mostly to comedic violence.

What happened with the action movies today? Look here, you have it all. It is fast. It is fun. It has a memorable tune to accompany the action. It has remarkable characters, who by no means are deep or Shakespere type guys, they are just cool. It has one-liners. It has a smoking-hot looking girl. A little bit of nudity here and there. Couple of funny lines can be heard. Very colorful villain and his goons. It has that feeling of adventure. It is a quintessential action movie. For that reason it is so predictable and clichéd, but here, is it really a downfall? Can we get more of these, please? I am sick of a bloody messes and greedy mood in todays action movies. Can you take it a little easier, Kitano? Or is it a thing of the past, meaning that will never get this style back again? Yes, sure. Not recommended at all......

I worked for Tohokushinsya and Office Takeshi for several years. To this day I still do not understand why there are people (most probably "Asianophilic" Caucasians) who try to give meaning to a a Asian film which, for all intents and purposes, just does not have any deep meaningful messages to impart. Because if this was an American or English film, it would have been slated as boring and a waste of time. But just because it is a Japanese Takeshi, there are people who are automatically impressed and seek to find hidden and meaningful truth in something which is actually as empty as the abyss.... Anyway there is nothing that worth thinking. There are only stupidity and violence toward ordinary people...sad......the cinematography is seemed to be almost out of focus in the entire film. This is the one I hated the most was the lead character. I guess that TKC's stupidity is reached the maximum point in 2015.