elliotspencer [Celluloid 11.20.07] movie review slasher thriller



Year: 2005 (DVD)
Director: Sakichi Satô
Writer: Hideo Yamamoto
IMDB entry: IMDB
Review by: elliot spencer
Rating: 7 out of 10

Key Characters:
Shiroishi Hajime/Ichi (Nao Omori)
Mr. Dai (Teah)
Onizame (Kôji Chihara)
Satomi (Chisato Amate)
Nao (Yuki Oikawa)
Hiromi (Eiki Kitamura)
Hide (Kazuhiro Mashiko)




Overview:
Before Ichi the Killer, there was just Shiroishi Hajime. Shiroishi kept to himself as much as he could and was not the kind of person to go out and look for trouble. His troubles begin early in the film when he witnesses an amazing fighter, Mr. Dai, beating up a group of kids from another school. Shiroishi watched and enjoyed the fight, but when Mr. Dai looked and say him, Shiroishi was smiling. Mr. Dai thought Shiroishi was laughing at him.



Shiroishi becomes the target of Mr. Dai and his two friends bullying. Not only is Shiroishi picked on at school by his classmates regularly, but he also gets picked on severely by younger children in his karate class. There they call him names and wish horrible things upon him.



It isn't long before he is caught getting picked on by some students from another school when Mr. Dai steps in and beats them all up. Shiroishi takes off at the first opportunity to save his own skin. The students from the other school think that he is friends with Mr. Dai now. In order to get Mr. Dai to fight the best fighter from their school they kidnap Shiroishi. They take him to a baseball field where he is tortured. Tired to a chair and pelted with high-speed pitches, he is brought to his mental limit. He snaps.



Shiroishi looses it... beating them all very badly and killing most of them. Thus, Ichi is born. Ichi still looks and acts like the old Shiroishi from the rest of the film, but there is a point that he reaches when he becomes the ultimate fighting machine. A weapon. He becomes an unstoppable force that will let nothing stand in his way for the punishment the he is bestowing.



Rating: 7/10
First, you all must understand that this is more of a drama and/or thriller than a slasher movie, and is definitely not a horror film. This movie is still a fantastic movie though. The story is great, and I really liked the character development. There was tension and a desire to know what was going to happen next.



This movie is a great prequel to Ichi: The Killer. This story explains a lot about how he became who he is. This film is also a greast movie all on its own. It was good about not leaving all these loose ends everywhere and it did not have parts that were really unnecessary. After watching this movie and talking with others that have seen it I have to say that if you aer a fan of Ichi: The Killer, martial arts movies, movies with good fighting, or just like to watch movies with amazing shooting styles and a really good story, then you need to watch this/

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