Review: Tokyo Zombie

Directed by Sakichi Sato. Starring Tadanobu Asano, Sho Aikawa and Erika Okuda

Released by Madman Entertainment

Black Fuji is an impressive mound of rubbish in the middle of Tokyo where locals dump all kinds of unwanted material - anything from household waste to corpses (and in one memorable scene, an unwanted mother-in-law). So it's natural that when two blue collar workers accidentally bump off the boss, they would take him there to dispose of the evidence. What's not so natural is that their arrival coincides with a mysterious force which is reanimating the dead and producing a plague of zombies.

Fujio (Tadanobu Asano) and Mitsuo (Sho Aikawa) are an amiable pair who seem to be unfazed by the marauding herd of undead on their doorstep. The first half of the movie is a light-hearted romp as they stock up on supplies, talk about their lives and practise their beloved ju-jitsu. Oh, and fight off the zombies too.

However, after rescuing a surprisingly ungrateful woman, things go downhill for the pair. Because the plot contrives to separate the friends halfway through, the movie falls uncomfortably into two sections - the first is a light-hearted 'zom-com' and the second a dour, post-apocalyptic scenario. The 'love-interest' played by Erika Okuda only serves to irritate, though her daughter has one of the film's best lines. It's certainly directed with verve by Sakichi Sato but you get the feeling that some of the humour may have been lost in translation.

Stereotypes abound (the Japanese male as pervert looking up the skirt of young girls, housewives acting as screeching harridans), though it's hard to take offence as the whole film has such an oddball and strangely innocent feel to it. The special effects are cheap and cheerful - Industrial Light and Magic certainly have nothing to worry about. All in all, it's a pleasant way to spend a couple of hours. Just don't expect any of the gravitas of a Romero film. And don't expect to always understand exactly what is going on.

To see Mark Smith-Briggs erudite comments on the same film look here.