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Dead Or Alive: Final (2002)

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Overall Rating 56%
Overall Rating
Ranked #6,727
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Connections: Dead Or Alive

Set in a post apocalyptic Yokohama where the population is kept under rigid control by a homosexual megalomaniac mayor. The citizens are administered drugs to suppress heterosexual urges. Officer Takeshi Honda (Riki Takeuchi) is a hard boiled cop enforcing the mayor's agenda, and Ryō (Show Aikawa) is a mellowed out drifter that hooks up with a gang of rebels. When the gang kidnap Takeshi's son, it begins a series of events leading to an inevitable showdown. --TMDb
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Review by Ginose
Added: February 26, 2010
So, I've finally come to the end of Miike's infamous "Dead or Alive" trilogy with, what I would easily call, the pinnacle of the series. Sure, it's got its ups and downs, but, as a whole, it really does excel as an action series above almost anything to come out of Japan, or from the west, even, and really pushed the genre to the ultra-violent extremes that every film should be put against.

Yeah, seriously, it's a well-made series and I'll always have a soft-spot in my heart for films of the same title, from the same creator that have absolutely nothing to do with one-another, plot-wise, but they're a well-recognized series for all the right reasons.

Pointless, ridiculous, disgusting, and preposterous are words that are often associated with them (particularly, this third entry) but I would call them unique. And awesome.

In the future the populace of the major urban cities in Japan are controlled by a tightly-wound government that prescribes them a Valium-like drug to keep everyone in-line and, for the most part, sterile. A small group resists this totalitarian control, but to little avail, until they find Ryo, a replicant (battle robot), who seems equally confused by the outcome of the world and wants nothing more than to help them in their feeble attempts to fix it all. On the other end of the badass spectrum, however, sits Officer Honda, a well-respected policeman, intensely talented at his job, but equally confused by the world he inhabits. Well, after a few brush-ins with the law, the group of rebels along with Ryo start taking m ore direct action, however, so does the government officials as well as Honda.

The first qualifier I have to give this one is that it's nowhere near as connected or well-established as the previous two entries, feeling, in ways, as if it is attempt to emulate (and, in many ways, parody) more popular western action films, primarily with its much more linear means of storytelling and emphasis on character-interaction with hyper-stylized action sequences.

Something different from the films as a whole? Sure, but nothing wrong with that as long as it's good and oh is it ever good; so much goes right in this movie that certain technical short-comings are easily ignored. The action-scenes are fucking excellent, with Miike's familiar love for intense, ridiculously excessive violence taking as much precedence as the acrobatic-exploits and effect-coated martial-arts, which makes for a vicious blend of eye-candy.

Performance-wise, I've no gripes. Aikawa and Takeuchi carry this one just as well as they did the last two, with the supporting cast pulling their set-pieces in with a wonderful vigor, helping move the film along without the slightest break in pace. Though, some strange little quirky things, that Miike loves so much, show their heads throughout (like Terence Yen breaking between different languages constantly throughout) just come off as confusing in a film with such a traditional style, even annoying as the plot picks up.

Still, with the new plot, setting and story this one certainly stands neck-in-neck with the other films in the series, if not succeeding the others (and it does, in certain ways). It works on a lot of levels that the other two entries don't touch, but it's also all the more ordinary, for better or worse (depending on what you watch it for), and certainly works better as an individual action film than the other two.

Not too niche, not too avant-garde, but just enough of the excellent action that all true action-fans strive for!

9/10

Also, a cute little reference to "Tetsuo the Iron Man" made me laugh until my sides hurt. I'm sure you'll enjoy it too, if you're familiar with the work.
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