Matt Cooper Films

Bodyguard Kiba (1993) by Takashi Miike

After ripping off his fellow gang members, an ex-boxer hires a top bodyguard to help fend off his vengeful former associates. Junpei (Daisuke Nagekura) is driving the Soryu Family members, led by Yasunaga, to a meeting with a Chinese gangster. While stuck in traffic, the gangsters get out and walk leaving Junpei the opportunity to flee with 500 million yen. When he is later confronted, he stabs Yasunaga, leading to a five-year term in a North Kanto jail for attempted murder. On his release he hires the legendary bodyguard Naoto Kiba (Takeshi Yamato) to escort him back to Okinawa, where he intends to reunite with his girlfriend Yoko (Shinobu Tanaka) and avoid a confrontation with the members of the Soryu gang he betrayed.

Based on the comic by Ikki Kajiwara and Ken Nakagusuku, with a screenplay by Hisao Maki and Tetsuya Sasaki, and directed by Takashi Miike, “Bodyguard Kiba” is a fun action film with a straightforward plot, featuring karate, sex, double-crosses, and gang violence. The simplicity of the story means that it doesn’t get in the way of the action. Junpei is an entertaining protagonist and sympathetic in contrast to the aggressive mobster Yasunaga. Kiba is established as an almost unstoppable force, capable of taking out a room full of villains in well-choreographed fight sequences that retain a sense of impact. The film features an unecessary but entertaining scene at the end when Kiba takes on a police officer who also happens to be a karate enthusiast.

Despite being, for the most part, rather silly knockabout fun, the film manages to create tension and delivers an emotional punch in the central relationship between Junpei and Yoko. Centering themes of trust, loyalty, and betrayal, the script builds to a thrilling showdown in which their relationship is tested to the limit. For fans of fast-paced crime thrilers, “Bodyguard Kiba” certainly delivers.

Matt Cooper Films

Karate Girl (2011) by Yoshikatsu Kimura

10 years after her father was killed and her sister kidnapped, Ayaka Kurenai (Rina Takeda), descendent of the legendary Kurenai Karate-ka Shoujiro, is drawn back into a conflict with the man who killer her father (Tatsuya Naka) in attempt to steal the family’s prized black belt. Ayaka, under a changed name, is working at a movie theatre, when her incredible karate skills in taking down a thief bring her to the attention of Muto (Kazutoshi Yokoyama), who soon realises that she survived an attack on their dojo 10 years prior. Muto has been training her younger sister Natsuki (Hina Tobimatsu), also under an alias, to his own leathal style of karate. Ayaka has no choice but to take him on, along with his henchman Keith (Richard Heselton), rescue her sister, and resist attempts to take the black belt from her.

“Karate Girl” is a martial arts film first and foremost, with the story providing only a loose thread to tie together various set-pieces. The plot is simplistic and predictable and there are a few eye-rollingly questionable moments, such as why characters would be wearing karate gi outdoors; or why they suddenly move to the rooftop for the final confrontation. Muto is a cartoon villain, complete with his own underground lair-cum-dojo where he concocts his nefarious schemes. It is highly likely you will know exactly how the story will end after the introductory five minutes, and one of the central twists seems so obvious it is surprising the characters take so long to realise it. However, the negatives out of the way, the actual karate is incredibly well choreographed, fluid and energetic. Director Yoshikatsu Kimura worked as second-unit director with star Rina Takeda on “High-Kick Girl” (2009) and here again we see him making the best of her skills. The direction, utilising a hand-held style and minimal editing makes these scenes enjoyable and you can see the skill of the performers. These scenes are packed with variety, largely involving large scale fights between the protagonists and a host of villains. There are moments where it is clear no attempt is being made by the foils to fight back or evade being struck, but its still a joy to see the high-kicking, wall-jumping, acrobatic style. Takeda and Hina Tobimatsu, who play Ayaka and Natsuki, are incredibly talented, really selling their kata and fights, helped by a large cast of able stunt performers. We see some behind the scenes training over the credits that shows what effort went in to creating some of these moments.

Your enjoyment of this film will depend on how much you enjoy watching karate. The plot is paper-thin, exisiting solely to set up a central conflict between Ayaka and Muto. However, the action scenes are well shot and entertaining enough to make it worth a watch for fans of martial arts films. Similar to “High-Kick Girl”, but with a slightly higher production value. The film makes some attempt at a message, with the contrast between Ayaka’s belief, passed down by her father, that karate is for protection, and the villain’s advocacy of karate being used to kill. But its hard to kid yourself that this film is more than it sets out to be, an enthusiastic, action-packed karate film with two incredible lead performances. In this regard it absolutely succeeds.

Matt Cooper Films

High Kick Girl (2009) by Fuyuhiko Nishi

Karate black belt Rina Takeda stars in her first film, giving her a chance to show off her martial arts prowess. Kei Tsuchiya (Takeda) is a brown belt karate student who desperately wants to obtain a black belt. She starts fights with a number of black belts, trouncing them easily with her superior abilities. Despite this her sensei Matsumura (fellow karate master Tatsuya Naka) will not acquiesce to raise her to a higher level. When her friend Ryosuke (Ryuki Takahashi) is kidnapped by a group of criminal martial artists known as the Destroyers, a group Kei had previously wanted to join, she is drawn into a long-standing grudge between the group and her sensei, who embarrassed their leader by defeating him 15 years before.

“High Kick Girl” is a film in the loosest sense of the word. The story is paper thin and full of holes, exisiting only to give the most tenuous of reasons for these characters to fight one another. There is little in the way of tension or emotional connection to anything going on. The microbudget is evidenced in everything from the title sequences, with fairly rote drone footage of the city, to the small number of locations and limited costumes or set dressing. With the negatives out of the way, there are still things to enjoy in this martial arts flick for fans of karate and top notch fight choreography. Rina Takeda and Ryuki Takahashi are incredibly skilled practitioners of their styles and the film also features a number of other talented performers who put their all into making the fights thrilling and believable. The choreography is incredibly well done and, unlike other action films, the direction allows us to appreciate every movement. Shot simply with handheld cameras that do not cut away, the actors do not pull their punches (or kicks), which leads to some surprising moments that make you wonder what health and safety they had on set. The stunt work, with moments such as Rei being pummeled through a table, make it easy to forgive the lack of plot. The film will often have a slow motion replay of such stunts or particular moments of the fight sequences, which give the whole thing the feel of a clip reel to show off what they can do rather than attempting to build a believable story. Many of these moments are again repeated during the end credits, which seems unnecessary as that is the third or fourth time you will have seen some of them.

The weak plot and characterisations are perhaps forgiveable in a film where the focus will understandably be on the incredible stunts and fight work. However, there should be a few points deducted even taking the film on its own terms. Firstly, the character of Kei becomes sidelined in the second half, as focus shifts to Matsumura. While it is great to see Naka’s fight work, it detracts from the title character and the little plot that has been developed up until then. Secondly, it would have been interesting to see more varied locations and more distinction between the fighting styles, perhaps even some situational advantages. One of the best scenes takes place in a more cluttered room where we do see them interact more with the environment. While we do get nunchucks, knives, staffs and chains, the character of Shurei (played by MMA kickboxer Hisae Watanabe) feels underused. For the casual viewer it may be hard to see any significant difference between all the punching and kicking going on, but no doubt those with some knowledge will find more enjoyment in watching. “High Kick Girl” will appeal to fans of martial arts and fight scenes, with undeniably incredible action sequences helped by genuinely talented fighters, but there is little here in the way of a compelling story or characters.