Versus (2000)
Directed by Ryuhei Kitamura
Written by Ryuhei Kitamura and Yudai Yamaguchi

Versus is absolutely hilarious, relentlessly bloody, and shamelessly over-the-top, a la Robert Rodriguez or the Evil Dead movies. It skewers sci-fi, martial arts, and zombie movie clichés with deadpan humor and gratuitous ridiculousness. But while you'll see vicious and specific lampooning of The Matrix, Men in Black, Highlander, and many other Hollywood blockbusters, the humor is so surreal and pointless (in a good way) that it couldn't be further from the way this type of thing is accomplished in, like, a Scary Movie or whatever. Mostly these references are utilized simply to provide comic relief from all the comic relief.

The story concerns a prisoner who escapes from captivity only to find himself in "The Forest of Resurrection," where he encounters some mobsters, a kidnapped girl, and the agents from whom he escaped. Many shoot-outs and hand-fights transpire, fracturing the ensemble in such a way that innumerable combinations of characters end up fighting (and usually shooting) each other, often by accident.

Add into the mix the undead souls who rise from burial in the forest to attack anyone they can, and the stage is set for a video game-style shootfest in which not much plot is needed. The movie manages to pump forward for two hours simply by constantly having people fighting, killing, and re-killing each other. It's marvelous.

A few of the characters are comedic to the point of "Three Stooges" impressions, which only adds to the merriment, mainly because it's great to see that sensibility taken to its furthest possible extreme: gunshots leaving gaping holes in people's midesctions, through which the shooter can then peer; someone ramming his fist into someone's face and removing both eyes simultaneously; one guy walking around without a hand, barely concerned about it; a "crazy" guy scampering around like a spider; the hero frequently punching his heroine out so as to keep her out of danger … the fun never stops.

It's entirely meaningless, but executed with perfect poker face, presenting increasingly graphic and insane levels of violence as it goes along but never toppling over into desensitizing kill-overkill. It's shot with complete flippancy, written like an "Itchy and Scratchy" cartoon, and ends in a fit of pure sarcasm, though somehow it remains charming as opposed to showy (i.e. Kill Bill).

After watching enough of these wild bloodfeasts, you begin to wonder whether any other type of movie is made in Japan. Who cares? This kind is all you really need.

Loud Bassoon rating scale

Review by La Fée