“The Execution Game” begins with Narumi (Yusaku Matsuda) captured by an unknown gang, brutalised and held prisoner. He is given an ultimatum: to kill the target they have selected for him, or risk the life of a woman he had a brief affair with being harmed. The target Okajima (Yoshiro Aoki), as it turns out, is none other than a previous assassin who has stepped out of line. Narumi must take on this dangerous target, all the while not sure that he can fully trust his new employer.
Series director Toru Murakawa returns for the final part of the “Game” trilogy, this time penned by Shoichi Maruyama. The darker tone is evident from the off with the sequence of Yusaku’s imprisonment seeing him in real peril. As with the previous parts you can fully expect him to recover and come back guns blazing for the people who have wronged him. The film has a degree of predictability to it, being the third part of a trilogy, but manages the same kinetic action and noir drama that we have come to know. The long action takes are expertly choreographed, despite some over-selling by the extras and give a sense of energy and dynamism, even if the result is rarely in doubt. Yusaku Matsuda fully embraces the character of Narumi, comfortable in his terse dialogue and merciless looks.
There is a subplot that runs throughout involving a watch-maker that serves as a fantastic oasis of quiet amidst the mayhem and allows for a degree of genuine emotion as we realise that Narumi is living on borrowed time. For the most part the death tally racks up, as in most action films, with little suggestion that the targets are any more than faceless, interchangeable gangsters. But in this final part of the trilogy, there is an attempt at least to connect Narumi to the real world, even if it is only to draw a contrast between the lives of the ordinary citizens and this man who is destined to walk alone. A fitting end to a fun trilogy, with a suave protagonist and intense action.
