Sadly Over-hyped

A Disappointing Continuation

A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

I didn’t really have many expectations going into the movie (good or bad), but I actually really enjoyed it. I really liked the characters and the banter between them.

Keeping straight Japanese girls-with-guns movies with titles like Beautiful Beast, Beautiful Prey and Beautiful Killing machine is no mean task - sort of like trying to keep straight the lesser Baldwin brothers - but unlike the Baldwins, most of these are pretty good. This one features Kaori Shimamura as Ran (aka The Black Orchid), an assassin for the Mob who feels little remorse in killing, since her job mostly involves snuffing rival mobsters. When the Mob targets someone half decent for a change, however, Ran's odd morality forces her to wipe them out on his behalf. The resulting sequence of well-staged shoot-'em-ups deliver enough ventilated cadavers for a whole season of Law and Order. Basically that's the plot. There aren't many surprises, but director Ikeda's trademark slick camera movement and wacky tilts give the exercise a lot of visual style (although his equally trademark shadowy urban landscapes sometimes make the action a bit hard to follow). Kaori looks good and gets topless a fair bit - always a worthy distraction - and the action moves along at a brisk pace. Overall, this is a professionally staged and shot and very slick looking piece of cinema. It's just not a very original one.

Reading the reviews here, I wonder if I watched a different movie. Honestly I think this movie is a waste of time. Yes the protagonist looks hot with a gun but thats about it. This is a B movie and IMO a bad one at that. The story is of course formulaic. Girl out to avenge the murder of her sister by some yakuza pimps and the man who unknowingly saves her then must choose between old friendship or his feelings for her. The starting was good then it went downhill. The subsequent action scenes pales in comparison to the simple opening sequence. The ending felt like they run out of budget, anti-climatic and for an "action" movie there was no action. Not recommended.....

Perverse! Maniac who takes to slicing up nubile young women is pursued by a forensics cop who has a morbid streak of her own; her involvement with the prime suspect recalls but doesn't quite follow the tired Eszterhazian formula which hobbles most similar films this side of the Pacific Rim. Breaks many western thriller conventions (i.e. dispatching a major, sympathetic character at a crucial moment), a creepy and methodical unraveling of plot elements and a ruthlessly economical narrative reflect an approach decidely offbeat to viewers more conditioned to Western formulas of thriller exposition...A gory, somewhat unpleasant ice-fingers-on-the-neck treat. If this your cuppa tea, have a slice, but don't expect "Scream"-style conventions---the take-no-prisoners level of violence and the leading lady's chilly presense keep things disturbingly out-of-kilter despite a silly and moralistic epilogue.Pic more or less works without subtitles, if you're wondering.

This is a great movie!!! It deals with a serial killer; The suspense is quite good and does not follow the Hollywood convention so you don't know what to expect. Plenty of graphic well done sex scenes. Beware that there is also a graphic rape scene. Still a 9 out of 10.