Sukiyaki Western Django (2007)

"Oh Hell Yes" is the main phrase that sums up this movie. Sukiyaki Western Django is Takashi Miike's badass, stylish western that combines Japanese and American aesthetics with a boatload of guns and blood. It's so awesome you guys. Writers Miike and Masa Nakamura draw from a range of influences- from classic westerns like Yojimbo and Django to the historical rivalry between the Genji and Heike clans- for the small town gang war premise and "Man With No Name" hero. It's sort of a combined remake of a lot of similar tales, but with English-speaking Japanese characters and exceptional gore erupting from both shoot-outs and sword fighting: both a tribute to and a spoof of films that came before it. A lone gunman (Hideaki Ito) rides into the small town of Yuta, where the Genji (white) and Heike (red) clans have been vying for gold treasure fabled to be hidden in the area.

He offers up his services as a highly-skilled mercenary to whichever gang will pay him the most, but ends up staying at an inn owned by Ruriko (Kaori Momoi) to hear the town's history. Years after the gang takeover of the town, young couple Akira (Shun Oguri) and Shizuka (Yoshino Kimura), one Genji and one Heike, tried to bridge the gap between the two clans with their marriage and son, Heihachi. Heike leader Kiyomori (Koichi Sato) kills Akira in front of his family, causing his wife to run to the Genji side, led by Yoshitsune (Yusuke Iseya), in hopes of one day exacting revenge. After various acts of violence and arsenal building, the gunman discovers that Ruriko has the power to end the conflict once and for all, so they prepare for a huge final battle with the aid of Ringo (Quentin Tarantino), a wise old cowboy.

This movie is pretty kickass, all around. It looks amazing, from the culturally mashed-up costumes to the high saturation to the beautifully-filmed battle scenes. It's fun and funny and never boring. The characters are excellent- I especially dug Ruriko, one of the most hardcore grandma's I've ever seen, and Yoshitsune for his truly formidable and over-styled villainery. And as much as I lament looking at Quentin Tarantino, he was kind of cool in this (I mean come on... cowboys). The sheriff with a split personality (Teruyuki Kagawa) was quite entertaining as well. I've seen a couple other Miike films but in general I have considered myself too squeamish to get into most of his ouvre (I was pretty scarred by Ichi The Killer); luckily Sukiyaki Western Django is cartoonish enough to lessen the gross-out factor and increase the overall fun. (For the most part... there is a really messed up and pretty unnecessary rape scene. It's not like we didn't already know all the gang members were the bad guys, why involve sexual abuse?)

Aside from that, the action sequences are rad: gun slinging, head-splitting, and a gun vs katana duel. Plus there's a gatling gun! Oh Snap! Suddenly this is everything a western could need to be. Morricone-esque music, weird slang, guns everywhere, cowboy hats, and dramatic showdowns. Hell yes. Pure entertainment. And thanks to filmsnack for recommending watching with English subtitles, since some actors had very heavy accents and could be a little hard to understand at parts. I'm just glad I could watch something I feel passionate about after the slew of so-so movies I've been seeing recently.

4.5/5