Abstract
For anybody who has ever checked out their cat and puzzled whether it is plotting violent domination, then herein lies the action-packed and really humorous reply to that query.
It opens on a bunch of girls wearing white, standing on a hill and serving up some critical Hanging Rock realness. As an axe falls, and an unknown prisoner is fed like a cat, you could marvel what you’ve gotten your self into with Reiki Tsuno’s debut function. It’s possible you’ll spend the remainder of the working time attempting to determine that out as effectively.
Taka (Sho Mineo) has been dwelling a shiftless life ever since his archeologist brother Mune (So Yamanaka) went lacking, spending his days in a trailer and threatening his demanding European landlord with deportation when she dares ask for the lease. When he receives a mysterious recording with clues to his brother’s location, he’s off like a shot to seek out Mune.
What feels like a stable setup takes a speedy left flip into the weird when Taka begins to come across an odd collective of warrior girls with catlike talents. Uncovering a plot that connects historic artefacts with supernatural catnip, Taka is joined by a homeless man with nothing else occurring and a gun-toting girl who is aware of greater than she is letting on.
Crammed with non sequiturs, excessive motion set-pieces, and characters which can be extra impressed by cartoons than motion movies, MAD CATS is the type of movie that you just journey together with fairly than watch. Because the viewers, we actually simply hold tempo alongside Taka, who appears to be genuinely reacting to each new bizarre scene that he encounters.
Tsuno, who launched the cult brief movie Crying Bitch a number of years in the past, wears his influences proper there on his shirtsleeves. From the Nineteen Fifties US impressed diner sequence to the epic martial arts and sword-swinging items, Tsuno fortunately ticks off some favorite bits of inspiration whereas gently poking enjoyable at total tropes produced by the motion franchise equipment.
From a technical perspective, the movie is stunningly shot by cinematographer Shintaro Teramoto, who just lately did wonderful issues with Fantastic Paradise. (Certainly, there’s a little bit little bit of Yamamoto Masashi’s madness on this movie’s DNA). Pristine panorama pictures appear like they may have stepped out of neo-Western, and the apparent and deliberate use of rear projection throughout key driving sequences provides the entire thing a retro vibe.
“For all of the harmless lives, previous and future, taken away by egocentric devils,” declares a mid-credits dedication. “People will concern the sound of MAD CATS coming for you.” Whereas it will be folly to even fake that we all know what this implies, it’s completely in step with the irreverent and chaotic philosophy of the film. Just like the cats of the title, it scratches and knocks random issues off the desk, nevertheless it’s nonetheless going to be one in all your favorite feisty felines.
2023 | Japan | DIRECTOR: Reiki Tsuno | WRITERS: Reiki Tsuno | CAST: Sho Mineo, Yuya Matsuura, Ayane, Michael Aaron Stone, So Yamanaka | DISTRIBUTOR: Fantasia Movie Pageant | RUNNING TIME: 88 minutes | RELEASE DATE: 20 July – 9 August 2022 (Fantasia)
