Gonin



Gonin is a Japanese gangster film that was very popular in that country. The plot is as follows: Five unlikable characters, including a fallen pop idol and a crazy unemployed guy, steal a bunch of money from the Yakuza, killing a couple of bosses in the process. The Yakuza track the five people down and kill them. The movie is just scene after scene of people getting beaten until bloody, with the occasional shooting thrown in. Imagine Goodfellas or Reservoir Dogs without any of the quiet moments and you get the idea. The character development on the thieves is perfunctory so we never like them, and never care if they live or die. The last half of the movie is stolen by Takeshi Kitano as bizarre hitman who executes a few of the thieves. Kitano is the only reason to see the film at all, but there are much better Kitano films out there.

Posted: Fri - July 25, 2003 at      

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