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The third movie in the series, a fact ignored by the American title, has plenty to admire, not least the relationship between the two emotionally-crippled executioners. This is convincingly well-drawn, thanks especially to Takeda, who does a lot with a little dialogue and keeps things moving along between bouts of strikingly arterial violence. A tangible improvement over the bland and colourless original, save for Ryuji Murakami's soundtrack which tries to sound like Ry Cooder, and fails miserably. Otherwise, it stands more than adequately on its own - just as long as you're not looking for a feel-good movie... [This review originally appeared in Manga Max] |
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After the lacklustre Zero Woman, this is a pleasant surprise - although "pleasant" is perhaps not the word for a dark and bloody saga about a suicidal hit-woman. Rei (Kumiko Takeda), tired of her job in the covert Zero Division, and life in general - between this and Neon Genesis Evangelion,
I'm starting to wonder if "Rei" is Japanese slang for "terminally glum". This Rei opts to screw up her current mission and let the opposition take her out. However, the assassin hired by them, after her previous successes, likes her wilful self-destructiveness, and won't play ball, rescuing her instead. This upsets his own bosses - I must admit, I can see their point - who kidnap his girlfriend to force completion of his task...
