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Where am I going to start on this film? OK. Frankly I had taken
no interest in The City of Lost Souls when it was first released.
I did not know anything about the film and I couldn't care less.
I only rented it out because of word of mouth. But damn was that
a mistake. I can safely say that I hate this film. It is really
awfully truthfully shit, with a massive capital S.
Why do I detest it so much? Everything -
from the acting, to the plot, to the action, to the locations, to
the dialogue - everything. I do not understand why a film could
be made this bad. What went wrong?
The film starts off with the introduction
of the main character Mario (played by Teah) who kills a bunch of
guys in a bar for some reason. He then uses a helicopter to rescue
his girl Kei (Michelle Reis), who is being deported. They then try
to find ways to leave Japan, either by plane, ship, boat, whatever.
However much they try, they are always thwarted by the Yakuza and
Chinese Triads. In some plot diversion, Mario and Kei steal a suitcase
full of drugs, and go on the run from both the Yakuza and Triads.
In the follow up, we see friends of Mario get bumped off one by
one, and Kei herself gets kidnapped. Mario has to rescue her, along
with a little girl named Carla. In the end, the Yakuza boss face
the Triad boss over some internal wrangling, and when it seems that
Mario and Kei finally get to escape, they are both killed by a scorned
woman with a shotgun.
Confused? You damn right better be. The
City of Lost Souls is one huge disjointed film that stretches the
already thin narrative structure, and throws all comprehension out
of the window. The characterisation is pitiful, with hardly any
background filler on the main characters. We don't understand their
motives, and it seems that everyone has a history with one another,
but we are not privy to the details. The jumbled plotline is laughable,
but believe me, you will not laugh at the absurdity of it all. Of
course, there are some absurd scenes in the film, especially one
concerning cockfights. Ripping of The Matrix, we see two cocks ploughing
at each other in slo-mo and fast cutting. Worth a gander, but how
does it relate to the plot? Zilch.
There is zero chemistry between Teah and
Michelle Reis (God knows why she committed to this film), and all
the other characters are as wooden as the furniture from Ikea. Everyone
tries to act cool and moody, but comes across as annoying. Any shred
of originality is thrown out by the poor dialogue, most of it delivered
in Japanese. The action is uninventive with not an ounce of creativity,
coupled with the sleep-inducing serious scenes makes the whole package
difficult to appreciate. Luckily I only rented this film out. God
Bless those poor souls who bought this pile of turd.
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