Red Shadow: Akakage (2001)

Director:

Hiroyuki Nakano

Writer:

Mitsuteru Yokoyama (creator)

Release Date:

11 August 2001 (Japan)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Comedy

Plot:

Aka Kage, Aoi Kage and Asuka are trio of ninjas sent to perform dangerous secret missions for their master...

Plot Keywords:

Ninja | Spy | Japan | Remake

Cast

Masanobu Ando	...	Akakage
Megumi Okina	...	Koto-Hime
Kumiko Asô	...	Asuka
Jun Murakami	...	Aokage
Naoto Takenaka	...	Shirokage
Fumiya Fujii	...	Ranmaru
Shûhei Mainoumi	...	Rikimaru
Kei Tani	...	Roushi
Ryôko Shinohara	...	O-Rin
Kitarô	...	Roushi, Mura no chourou
Denden	...	Bonnobei
Shigeru Kôyama	...	Kyougoku Kanemitsu, Sengoku-Daimyou
Seizo Fukumoto	...	Sasai
Yôji Tanaka
Kouji Yazawa

Also Known As:

Red Shadow

Runtime:

108 min

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Australia:M | South Korea:12 | Germany:12 | Singapore:NC-16

Company:

Toei Company

Movie Connections:

Spin off from SF: Episode One (1998)

Lot's of fun, but not as good as Samurai Fiction

From the great Hiroyuki Nakano who proved himself with "Samurai Fiction" comes an entertaining, if not wholly fulfilling, Ninja movie!

If you enjoyed Samurai Fiction, then you should have a blast watching Red Shadow. It's one of the most entertaining films to come out of Asia in the past few years, with some really breathtaking stunts, great costumes and sets, and some charismatic characters. Still, at the end of the film I felt a bit that a little something was missing. I still can't quite put my finger on it.

Stylistically, Red Shadow is at least on par with Nakano's earlier masterpiece. The cinematography is beautiful (and in glorious color this time), and Nakano gives us some extremely cool crane shots. The humor is there, as is the respectively tongue-in-cheek tone, but Red Shadow takes a slight turn for the melodramatic in the middle, and I think that might be where it's biggest stumble was.

I won't go into details, as it would kind of spoil an important bit of the film, but the fun, light-hearted film that makes you feel as if you could jump, flip, and spin through the air suddenly stops and takes a more dramatic tone. It's a brief break, though, and a necessary one to set up the characters for the second half. It's problematic, though, because it divides the film into two very distinct segments, so much so that they could almost be different films!

Still, it's not that big of a flaw. Just a little irritating in hindsight. There are others, though: a slightly anti-climactic ending, a couple of plot holes, but nothing that really takes that much away from the film.

The characters aren't quite as interesting or charismatic as those in Samurai Fiction; that stops the film from being much more than entertainment.

This review has been pretty negative in tone, but it's really just from the high standard Nakano had set for himself. From another director, Red Shadow would be a great achievement. It's extremely stylish; the techno-rock soundtrack is very cool and somehow works well in context; the costumes look incredible; the special effects are subtle and convincing; the stunts and acrobatic feats a really awe-inspiring; the comedy succeeds almost without fail. It's certainly worth a look, and if you're prepared for the quirky comedy/romance/action tone, you should really enjoy Red Shadow.

Pick up the Media Blasters DVD. It's a really great 2-disc set.