Takashi Miike's loose adaptation of the PS2 game "Yakuza" is definitely an odd duck. It defies most formula conventions and delivers a uniquely Miike experience. Reminiscent of City of Lost Souls before it and Crows Zero after it, Like A Dragon has as many laughs as it does bullets. Combining bombastic action with a violent sense of humor, the film almost seems to want you to hate it, but it's hard not to like what amounts to be one of the most twisted action comedies in recent memory. A gangster fresh out of jail, his bat-wielding and bugnuts crazy arch-nemesis, a lost little girl, two Bonnie and Clyde posers, a pair of idiot bank-robbers, a mysterious Korean hit-man and plenty of other characters inhabit one hot night in a fictional district of Tokyo with two missing women and ten billion yen at stake. If you're expecting a deathly serious action fest, you had better look elsewhere. Relying on vicious physical gags and some truly inspired comic timing, Miike mixes in dynamic camera-work with colorful imagery to continuously rebel against traditional action conventions. This is definitely not one of Miike's most profound works, but it is certainly one of his most undeniably fun.
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loogenhausen8 November 2011
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Like a dragon takes place in Kabukicho, a red light district from japan. It goes over the events from the first game but fails to tell the whole story. They do too many things at once and it weakens the plot. The place they start up in is confusing if you've never played the games. But it has its great moments I love. Goro Kishitani (the actor) carries the entire movie. He's so funny and likable but in an evil way. I hated the movie because of how it failed to tell a straightforward story, but I loved it because it had its funny moments and Majima Goro (the character).
Why this movie was bad. It had 4 plots, one about the main story with Kiryu, Haruka, and Majima, one about someone incompetent robbers trying to steal from a bank, one about a Korean sniper, and one about a couple going on a robbing spree. They could have done this successfully, but since it was executed poorly I would have loved to have the 2-hour experience be about the main plot. It's also bad because of the beginning and end, it starts up after Kiryu goes to jail and doesn't establish Nishiki, yumi and Kiryu's relationship beforehand, the ending was bad because of how the beginning sucked yumi blows herself up with the money but in the games, Nishiki takes the fall because of the regretful things he's done while Kiryu was in jail but you wouldn't know that unless you played the games.
This movie is great because of Majima Goro. Majima is the opposite of Kiryu. He's wild, beats his men when they don't have something interesting to talk about, fights Kiryu whenever he has a chance. I like how Majima gets hit and dishes them out is so hilarious. At the end, when Kiryu drinks a stamina royal from the games, I couldn't help but laugh. The way the city is shot feels so immersive, all the bright lights and dark city night looks' so good! The movie looks great, the colors are vibrant, and in the soap house shootout scene, the plain suits pop because of the bright pink and red background and it looks great! The costumes are cool. I liked the robbers' matching masks. My favorite camera movement was this one-shot scene with the Korean and drink guy. I loved how the camera pans around the door frame. Majima's suit and dagger were odd, the suit was black and yellow but wasn't a snake pattern. His dagger was a plain one and not the demon fire dagger from the games. Majimas dagger and suit have lore relevance but they can be overlooked.
In conclusion, this movie is great and awful, it's messy, confusing, and undeveloped. But I love it regardless of its flaws, it's funny to fans of the games and Japan looks beautiful. Majima was insanely funny and carries the movie whenever he's on-screen. The movie looks great for 2007. It had nice camera work with great angles, loved parts with hallways and zoom-ins. I'm excited to see the new Yakuza movie Sega has in the oven. I hope they improve on these ideas from this movie. Regardless of whether or not it's good, i'll watch it anyways. -
BrnzReviews16 May 2021I actually think I may be the only one who enjoyed this film, being a big fan of the Yakuza games I had a feeling despite the bad reviews on this I was going to enjoy it. I think you need to be one of those who have played the games to get why certain aspects of the movie hold a special place in your heart, I spent so many hours playing as Kiryu Kazuma that I grew an attachment to the character so from that there i knew it was going to be a good watch.
I have to admit some parts aren't needed but all the same kts a good watch that I thoroughly enjoyed, I feel like we could of delved into the story more with this movie, it went as good as you could have gone when it comes to reliving a gaming experience through a movie. It can't be exactly the same or it'd be boring as we'd just see what we've already seen so I get why things need changing.
Great movie to watch if you're a big fan, if you're not id recommend checking the games out as they are great, if you're not a gamer I'd say go for it you might even like it. -
With his flamboyant sense of film style, over-the-top action sequences, outrageous visual sight gags and genre-bending sensibilities, it is easy to see why Miike Takashi's films are so enjoyed by audiences, particularly those outside of Japan. Like his contemporaries Quentin Tarantino, Edgar Wright, Guillermo del Toro and Robert Rodriguez, Miike has really done a lot to invigorate the Japanese cinema and help make it more accessible by world audiences.
Ryu Ga Gotoku (Like A Dragon) is a film that is pure Miike and covers many of his signature themes (Yakuza, innocence lost, bloodlust, cartoon violence and death).
While it's generally a bad sign when a film is "based upon a video game", in this instance Sega's Playstation 2 game, Ryu Ga Gotoku (AKA: Yakuza). However the translation here is not all that far off the mark. Of course, it helps when the screenplay was adapted from a story written by acclaimed novelist Hase Seishu (Sleepless Town, City of Lost Souls).
The story revolves around former Yakuza underling Kiryu Kazuma (Kitamura Kazuki), who has recently been released from prison after a lengthy incarceration, and is trying to piece his life together and distance himself from his Yakuza past. Along the way he encounters Haruka ("Natsuo"), a distressed young girl who is trying to find her lost mother (a former club hostess). Unfortunately Kiryu's problems slowly escalate as he is pursued by a former associate, the baseball bat-wielding psycho Majima Goro (Kishitani Goro) who has a grudge to settle with Kiryu.
Kiryu's encounter with Goro's men in a Osaka convenience store inspire a couple of free-spirited teens, Satoru (Shioya Shun) and Yui(Saeko)into robbing area stores and using the money to pay off Yui's debts and to terminate an unwanted pregnancy.
If things weren't confusing enough, a robbery is also taking place nearby where two gunmen are holding an entire bank hostage and have been tormenting the bank employees with their constant bickering.
Other incidental characters include a nebbish gunrunner (Arakawa YosiYosi), a mysterious Korean assassin (Gong Yoo) and Nishikiyama, an Osaka Kingpin who has entered into a sinister alliance with North Korean militants and is holding over 10 Billion Yen in his fortress penthouse.
The amount of male machismo and bare fisted brawling in the film is reminiscent of the Be-Bop High School movies and are every bit as cartoonish in their over-the-top violence. While the violence does not approach the sheer visceral horror of his past films like Koroshiya No Ichi (AKA: Ichi the Killer) or Gozu, there are moments where one just cringes at the body blows.
Kitamura (Controller X in Godzilla: Final Wars) is an incredibly charismatic actor who definitely has the look and brawn to play the "Dragon of Dojima" Kiryu. He is your atypical hero type - silent and brooding with a "takumashi" (manly strength) that seems to be a prerequisite of Yakuza heroes.
Kishitani (Returner, Shin Jingi No Hakaba) steals the show however as the manic Majima, a criminal with a unique flair for destructive mayhem and yet also has a strangely sinister charm about him. Unlike Kiryu, he has no honor and is not opposed to killing his own subordinates if the mood suits him. He is not much unlike Kakihara (Asano Tadanobu) in Miike's comic book Yakuza cult movie Koroshiya No Ichi but is thankfully not as vile a villain. If anything, he reminded me a lot of Tommy Lee Jones' "Harvey Two-Face" character in the disappointing Batman & Robin movie - comical in his outright villainy.
Shioya Shun (Hurricanger Red in the Hurricanger Tokusatsu series) and Saeko (Backdancers!, NANA) are a bit wasted in their roles as Satoru and Yui, and their characters aren't really given much room to develop beyond their Bonnie and Clyde type roles.
As mentioned the various fights border on the unrealistic side, possibly in keeping with the original video game. Both Kiryu and Majima often display varying degrees of almost superhuman endurance, stamina and strength in their battles. During the final fight between Kiryu and "final boss" Nishikiyama, the two start generating "auras" ("heat mode", in the game) when they fight giving off the impression that they aren't quite human. It almost takes on the "cinema of the absurd" when Kiryu goes into "Popeye" mode after drinking a special vitamin elixir that supercharges his abilities to finish of Nishikiyama.
Ryu Ga Gotoku is still an enjoyable Yakuza action film with elements of fantasy and crime drama. While I would have preferred if Miike had just focused on Kiryu's story and thrown out the subplots involving the bank robbery, the Korean Assassin and Satoru and Yui's story, I guess the intention was to create a type of Pulp Fiction type ensemble piece. Unfortunately while it worked well in that movie, it does not work well here at all and just causes a lot of unnecessary confusion. Sometimes simplicity is really better. -
I just read in another review for the movie, that this is based on the (somewhat) popular game "Yakuza" (a third installment of which is supposed to come out this year for the two next generation consoles). Since I haven't played the game, I can't tell you how accurate this adaptation is.
If you're a Miike fan, than you don't need my review for an opinion. But if this is about to be your first Miike movie or you haven't heard of him, let me tell you, that his "style" (cheap and fast, that's why he makes quite a few movies every year) aren't everyones taste. They are somewhat original though and have many weird/strange ideas thrown into the mix. This is not different here and the movie is quite enjoyable in an almost sick kind of way. Not for the squeamish ... but then again, which Miike movie is for a sensible audience? Exactly! -
skatechannel8521 May 2021As a huge Yakuza fan I feel as though they hit every plot point but it's not in order. There's no Kiryu attacking the funeral and a few other things. May I also ask why Majima has a shotgun.. I don't recall him having that in the games. Other than that its fun but don't think I'd come back.
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mmushrm4 May 2011The movie thats based on the game "Yakuza" (part 1).
The movie is rather entertaining with its visuals and pacing. There are comedy elements as well as action which are done quite well.
The only downside of the movie if you are not familiar with the game are the characters that seem to randomly pop up. Unless you have played the game, these characters seem like excess pieces. No character development, no idea who they are or whats their purpose. It makes things rather confusing. The plot also seems to have no meaning especially the ending.
To those that are familiar with the game, the movie will seem to be lacking in depth- characters and story. But I guess condensing at 15hour game into 2hours isn't easy. The thing is, the movie is good enough to be a stand alone movie and I thing Miike may have erred in trying to make too much like the 1st Yakuza game.
Good movie, it kept my attention throughout. However it does feel shallow, disjointed and disappointing (the ending). -
pdynan26 September 2020Having played 0-6 just since the pandemic, they are all fresh in my mind. I also have a great affection for characters, appreciate the convoluted plots, and love wild insanity that make Yakuza games like a Japanese Monty Python at times.
It is one the best game adaptations I have played. It is not condescending or trying too hard to wedge in game mechanics. Even when it does, it has that Kung Fu Hustle kind of wink about it. Everything from beating people with crates and traffic cones, to Poppo and Don Quixote brawls, to seeing Kamurocho as a backdrop and actually recognizing buildings and streets.
That said, it's like they just wrote a story set in the Yakuza 1 game, and in the last 20min remembered they needed to make a movie based on the source material. There are at least 2-3 subplots with unrelated characters that suck all the time and oxygen out of the story, who are not even in the game. If you hadn't played the games, you may have had fun instead in the first 3/4 of the movie, and then wondered who the hell these titular people were at the end and what was going on.
Other than getting to hang out with Kiryu one more time, it was a total waste of fun material and decent story that would have had no problem translating to the screen. -
shortc-8567126 September 2020This movie is all over the place. A lot of aspects you won't get unless you have played at least Yakuza Kiwami. In reality, there are three to four plot lines running alongside each other at once.
The way Nishiki showed up at the very end was a joke because he's actually one of the main villains of the plot of Yakuza 1.
Kiryu's actor did not play Kiryu well and there are definitely a lot of plotholes. But at least the dogs in this movie were fun to watch. No joke I laughed when it was Majima who jumped Kiryu at the bathhouse because I didn't expect it.
The actor who played Majima embraced his persona with pride and was the best thing in this movie. -
K2nsl3r1 October 2007Miike has proved to be one of the most versatile and reliably inventive directors of the last decade. He is no longer merely Japanese; his movies reach an ever-growing audience in Europe, America and elsewhere. Capably of churning out several films a year (owing to his background in the B-cinema of straight-to-video yakuza action variety), even the best of Miike's films have a sense of fleetingness - not to say hurriedness - to them. That is because, for Miike, more is more. Frugality be damned. The film under review is NOT one of his most polished works, but it is smooth and shiny, and thoroughly entertaining from start to finish. And a faithful adaptation to boot.
You see, with "Like A Dragon", the celebrated but wacky director enters the world of video game screen adaptations, translating Sega's Playstation 2 hit game "Yakuza" into cinematic terms. But Tomb Raider or Doom this is not. For one, "Yakuza" (which I've played and enjoyed) had a much superior storyline to most other games out there. Thrilling and dark, the story of the game gets adapted, with seeming ease, into Miike-speak. How did they condense a 15-hour storyline into a 100-minute movie? Not perfectly, but satisfactorily. A few jumps and omissions bespeak the origins of the story, but overall the story holds.
The reason for this easy transition is clear: The world of the yakuza, petty criminals, cops and street urchins is right in well-tested Miike territory. After dozens of films that deal with the underworld of Japan, the veteran director knows his stuff. A yakuza game + a yakuza director is a marriage made in (some perverted) heaven. Visually, too, this film captures the atmosphere and locale of the game. The colour spectrum of both the outdoors shots and the indoor sets is pleasing to the eye, and almost every shot is beautiful to look at. Especially in a few indoors shots there is poetry to violence.
Mixing humour (as Miike does) with violence and tragedy, the film never loses its edge. Miike captures both the serious and comic side of the thugs and social rejects in the film. Many of the characters in the game, especially the young girl, Haruka, and the delinquent teenage lovers are really likable and you really feel for their fates.
The storyline may leave those who haven't played the game hanging (just who-what-where?), but it isn't necessary to play the game to appreciate the movie. They both stand on their own.
Lucky for Miike to have such good source material, and lucky for Sega to be able to attach one of the great directors of today in a project that otherwise would have been doomed to mediocrity. Salvaged by style and visual richness, "Like A Dragon" is an above-average Miike film with enough twists and turns to make you feel like game-to-movie adaptations ARE possible after all. Uwe Boll and Paul W.S. Anderson - take notes and learn! -
dravidz24 May 2020Terrible confusing plot just like the game mind you, but what makes this movie bad for Miike standards is the total lack of violence and humor. It's very slow paced, and an extremely boring altogether movie. Kitamura is a brilliant actor but sadly this is probably his worst so far.
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If you haven't played any of the Yakuza games then you will likely have no clue what is going on as this is definitely made for fans. Characters come and go and things happen with little explanation, if you're not a fan then you will get lost very quickly. The Yakuza games average about 30-40 hours worth of heavy story in each game so cramming that in to a 2 hour movie was always going to be a challenge.
The actor who plays Majima was perfect and Kiryu actually drinks a Stamina X to make himself stronger, i was laughing so hard at how awesome it was.
I think Shô Aikawa should have played detective Date instead of the small part he played, he's a great actor.
You can tell this is Takashi Miike straight away, it isn't as out there or extreme as some of his more well know films but it has his trademark offbeat style and there are many actors you'll recognise from his other movies.
It isn't deep and it is a mess but if you like the Yakuza games and want to see your favourite character brought to life then this is a fun time. -
kluseba21 March 2023Ryû ga gotoku: Gekijô-ban, internationally known as Like a Dragon, is an excellent action thriller inspired by the first entry in the internationally acclaimed video game franchise Yakuza. It's quite surprising that this excellent movie hasn't been received more favourably and that there are even plans to remake it entirely. As it is, this movie isn't only a pleasure to watch for fans of the franchise with its numerous hidden gems but also a blockbuster for regular fans of gangster movies.
This movie has been directed by prolific filmmaker Miike Takashi, responsible for genre masterpieces like Shinjuku Triad Society in 1995, Dead or Alive in 1999 and Ichi the Killer in 2001. His direct, fast and graphic approach suits this movie wonderfully and resumes an epic video game of roughly thirty hours in one hour and fifty minutes. Some iconic scenes from the video game might have been left out but one simply doesn't miss them in this brutal, energetic and quirky final product. Miike Takashi is the perfect director for this wonderful movie.
The acting performances are also surprisingly solid. Kitamura Kazuki is one of Japan's most prolific actors and has collaborated with Miike Takashi time and again. He incarnates charismatic protagonist Kiryu Kazuma splendidly. Kishitani Goro has also been starring in several excellent gangster films and he might deliver the best performance of his career while portraying crazy antagonist Majima Goro as he finds the perfect balance between this character's stylish antics and his psychopathic obsessions. Even the child actress who plays Sawamura Haruka who represents hope, innocence and purity in the video game series is absolutely credible here.
Another strength of this film are its locations. The video game series have been inspired by Shinjuku entertainment district Kabukicho and Miike Takashi's movie was actually shot on location. From this perspective, this movie feels even more realistic than the associated video game. Numerous locations from shiny skyscrapers over sinister back alleys to chaotic basement shops have been perfectly integrated into this film.
As for the story, this movie follows the first video game very closely. Objective observers might claim that this isn't very creative. However, those who are unfamiliar with the video game are in for a wild rise with several stunning twists and turns. As for those who are actually familiar with the video game, your anticipation will keep growing throughout the film as its finale comes around with one iconic scene after another. There are no unnecessary lengths to be found and once this turbulent ride is over, you simply want to take a deep breath, sip a tasty drink and start all over again.
At the end of the day, anyone who appreciates gangster movie should definitely watch Like a Dragon. If you are intrigued by this film, make sure to either discover the wonderful video game franchise from start to finish in chronological order or to watch some of Miike Takashi's greatest movies throughout his impressive career that has lasted for more than three decades now. Actually, combining both elements might be the best option for you as it will give you hours and hours of outstanding entertainment. Here's hope that this wonderful movie will finally be served justice and see an international re-release by a company like Arrow Media or Well Go USA. -
jirro-5293115 September 2021There´s a lot of missed elements, they may don´t talk about some things but is still interesting.
The plot of the robbers can be one of the best things in this movie, was really funny and cool to see the cast.
Goro Majima was the coolest character and I believe that the "Majima everywhere" in "YAKUZA KIWAMI" was inspired by the actor and motivations of Majima in the movie
The personality of Majima is all what you see in the rest of the games
Miike is a very versatile director, gory movies, "snuff" movies, horror movies, history movies, comedy movies and action movies.