What??


I really loved the first game (second isn't released yet) and am a huge fan of Takashi Miike's work, BUT... I must say that I'm kinda disappointed by this movie. While the directing, fight scenes and acting was superb (Okay, except Haruka...) I think that it only consisted of plot holes.
I mean, they didn't cover much, and if you didn't play the game you wouldn't have a clue what's going on!

There was too much going on that had no purpose at all or just wasn't explained:

Why was Kazuma in jail?
Who's Haruka? Why is she looking for her mother?
What's Date's purpose in this story?
Who the hell is Harukas mother, why did she pretend to be another person? What's her story, and what's her relationship to Kazuma?
Why did this mafia boss steal all the money?
What's the relationship between Kazuma and Majima?
Who's Ishiki? Why is he so much stronger than all the other guys?
Why did everyone want to kill Kazuma?
What was the deal with those two youngsters robbing every store and who was this guy who tried to kill her? Why did the hitman get involved with this?

So... If I just didn't get it, please explain it to me. But if you ask me this movie was just one giant plot hole.


"It's more comfortable for you to label me as insane."

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Maybe it is not explained in the movie (haven't seen it yet, but played the game)because they assume that the viewers are familiar with the game and know the basic plot already?

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I dunno, they changed the whole plot quite into a new story, so I don't think that it's even all clear to people that played the game.
And if they really did, I guess it was a bad move. You can easily watch Resident Evil, Hitman or Dead or Alive without playing the game.

"It's more comfortable for you to label me as insane."

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Yes. I think you definitely need to be familiar with the games to watch this movie. I liked it though.

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Yeah, I had all those issues, and more. But then I'm not a gamer, so I was really lost. I consider myself a big Miike fan, but this movie just didn't do it for me. I felt that (e.g., with its almost-bloodless violence and lack of subtlety) it had a much younger target audience. It felt too commercial, but then I guess that's what was called for in this instance. But I've been missing the more quirky Miike for the last year or so...

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I'll try to answer as best as possible.

Kazuma was in jail for 10 years because he took the blame for the death of the head of the Dojima family in which the main culprit was his best friend/ adopted brother Nishiki (the guy with the koi tattoo on his back)

When Kazuma got out of jail he found out that he's in temporary custody of Haruka (he helps her because he finds out that she grew in the same orphanage he was raised before). He notices that she looks like someone he knew a long time ago (keep reading!).

Date is a good cop that helped Kazuma get out of jail. He had a hunch that Kazuma wasn't guilty of his crimes and want to know more about what's going on in the underground and generally helps Kazuma because he cares. (I think he was the one that arrested Kazuma during the murder)

Haruka's mother was Kazuma's first love before he went to jail. Nishiki was jealous of the fact that she loved him that he stole the money so he could use it to become the next head of the family. She didn't tell Haruka about herself in fear of the politician Jingu (the dude who got shot in the head in the helicopter) would try to kill her. I think in the movie she just had enough and wanted to get rid of Nishiki, Jingu, the money, and herself in one go. (she gets shot by Jingu trying to save Kazuma and Nishiki stabs Jingu in the game)

Jingu is a korean born politician that was the one that orchestrated the robbery of the 10 billion dollars to get Nishiki in his pocket as Nishiki becomes the head. Imagine what a politician could do that he has one of the largest yakuza branch on his leash. He also had dealing with the yakuza before he became a politician. In the film his became too powerful that the Korean gang sent an assassin to kill him. BTW he's Haruka's father. If the media finds out that he had a child and a woman before he became a politician his reputation would be ruined.

Kazuma calls Mishima/Majima "nii-san" so you can tell that he respects Majima even though he's insane. They've had a twisted form of a relationship because Majima is convince that he is the only one that can kill
Kazuma.

Everyone wants to beat Kazuma up because a) they know who he is or b) they don't know who he is. (it's kinda like that in the game)

That whole youngster's thing was more of a side story about easily falling to a life of crime, how desperate one becomes when in debt, how the road to hell is paved with good intentions, how shooting a guy thinking that you're helping the couple might exacerbate the situation, etc. I dunno we are talking about Miike the director. At least he isn't Uwe Boll.

Pardon my grammar, it's too early in the morning when I found this thread.

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