Wicked City |
 | Summary:Supernatural anime horror/thriller follows a ruthless cop's battle against diabolical demons. Best as shocking erotic/graphic avant-garde, will turn off most unfamiliar with Japanese animation. |
| Title Aka: | Demon Beast City |
| Company/Distributors: | Urban Vision |
| Year: | 1987 |
| Length: | 90 Minutes |
| Rating: |  |
| Genres: | Action, Horror, Fantasy |
| Format: | Feature Film |
| Content Level: |
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| Comments: | N/A |
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Synopsis:
The dark and dour-ridden Tokyo is at the turn of the 21st century. There exists within the depths of Tokyo the human world and the black world. Over time, the city has established means of treaties, which in turn verify the co-existance of demons and humans. Every so often, this treaty is re-newed, through means of special secret government cover-ups and through the efforts of the "Black Guard"; ruthless and deadly detectives who keep track of these evil demons and put them in their place. Though word has risen of a co-existance and peace between the two worlds, the evil of the dark world is about to wreak havoc once again in Tokyo. "Wicked City" is a supernatural thriller directed by the famed "Yoshiaki Kawajiri", one famous for his dark and atmospheric approach in animation and horror film making. The director of films like "Demon City" and "Ninja Scroll" has taken with this production a turn on the surreal, the weird and the nightmarish; a mind-blowing juxtaposition of horror, and plenty of excessive aberrational content in "Wicked City". It is the somewhat creepy, yet fairly straitforward story of "Taki Renziburo"; a wise-craking, sleazy yet sharp rebel fighter that he is. He is part of what is known as the "Black Guard", a group of infamous detective types whom keep in line whats known as the demons of the "Black World". A path which will soon be crossed by the balance of a treaty which will make the worlds live in peace. Much of Tokyo is inhabited by these mysterious, often treacherous creatures of the dark. Taki is teamed up with the mysterious "Makei", a dangerous woman whom is a member of the dark world; though she holds within herself a human-like presence and personality. The two sort out their differences as they are set on the case to seek out an aging demented old man named "Guiseppe Mayart", whom is the only one that will make the treaty possible. Many of the demons wish to see "Haki" and "Makei" dead, and it's an all out rush to save humanity from the evil depths of Tokyo.
Review:
Director "Yoshiaki Kawajiri" has his work accredited to him for many good and somewhat off-the-wall aspects. In all his films he seems to display an incredible sense of artistic depth, horrendous content at times, yet a stylish approach on the horror/thriller genre. His films have The plot of Wicked City is something right out of a kinky-romance, nearly resonant of a buddy-cop film with a supernatural twist. Taki is paired up with a beautiful woman with a distintive and 'deadly' touch. Also a weird aspect of the storyline (If there really is any) is the presence of the often demented and capricious old man whom the heroic duo of the story attempt to help against the demons. These characters are virtually undeveloped and rather unconvincing. But one of Kawajiri's most noticable techniques is that his films rely heavily on the visual aid of gross-out action/violence as well as a considerable amount of content which reflect to "shock" those unfamiliar with his line of film making. In "Demon City Shinjuku", though there is really no heavy storyline structure, the director expects you to be amazed by it's horror action and it's almost campy style. Extreme content is utilized in films like "Ninja Scroll" to create a haunting effect of the time period, and it somehow manages to inter-connect to the film's characters. In "Wicked City", "Kawajiri" not only attempts to overshadow the film's structure with stylization and effects, but indeed he perhaps tries to go too far in his presentation to jolt the audience in such a way to almost turn them off, and still keep them glued to a somewhat flat storyline. It never helps to bury a plot into a thick array of taboo-shattering aspects, even when it's too late for the movie to save itself in the first place. It can be said that "Wicked City" attempts to stylize 'bloody-avant-garde', of a time when violence in Japanese animated film making was at a peek; and perhaps forcing over the genre to audiences which classify anime as adult entertainment. This film justifies this fact, but has a rather hard time letting go. It can be thought to be a classic in animated film making with this classification, but I feel it merely crosses the lines of pornography; though the film never really establishes within itself a basis for this group of paper-thin characters. The plot in fact actually seems to get better two thirds the way down, but by this time Wicked City is burried in a juxtaposition of twisted humor, often disgusting content, as well as enough hard-core violence to make Walt Disney turn over in his grave. Content wise, Wicked City is a film we could all do without, yet it's perhaps perfect for those jaded enough to witstand it's unmistakably fixed standpoint; as a pointless horror movie. Something which the relatively light hearted kinky-romance and thoughtful technical aspects cannot save, once overshadowed with a very bad aftertaste. Technically the film is pretty good, if not substandard. More precisely put, it's much along the lines of his other productions. The director utilizes much 'stock' as well as a unique selection of colors in order to create the 'horror look' seen in much of his other films. Wicked City is merely a supernatural thriller, but it doesn't seem to know what it's trying to be. Whether the director is trying way to hard, or not hard enough to capture this type of storyline. Or whether he is merely attempting to present the highest amount of offensive content possible without destroying the plot, it doesn't work either way for "Wicked City". An anime film which nearly can't sustain itself from a befould reputation as an anime horror-thriller. While at a certain glance, it is by far not a terrible movie but not a good one either. And to some extent, containing a slight acceptance as a cult classic of bloody/erotic avant-garde; this is a film to be avoided if possible by anyone. Click Here to See Overview! |
shown a decent amount of both consistency in his own style, as well as change of pace. Yet, all his works seem to push the envelope of conventional content, defiant in their borderlines of "cartoon-film making", truly a pioneer of "over-the-top" aspects in Japanese Animation. Kawajiri himself is perhaps the one responsible for the amount of graphic violence in Japanese animation, and comic art. His films attempt to "shock" and to stir the imagination. One of his earlier works, a film called "Wicked City" based upon the stylish comic works is a cross between the graphically extreme and the grotesquely odd. The environment of the film from the beginning is extremely moody. Yoshiaki attempts to capture the grim side of modern day Tokyo, a place where there lies the majority of criminal youth, those of the defiant, as well as the mug, hot-shot images of rough detectives like "Taki", one of the Black Guard.