Dead or Alive 2: Birds (2000)

Two contract killers cross paths in the middle of the same job and realize they are childhood friends.

Director:

Takashi Miike

Writer:

Masa Nakamura

Stars:

Shô Aikawa, Riki Takeuchi, Noriko Aota

1 nomination.

Cast

Credited cast:
Shô Aikawa	...	Mizuki Okamoto (as Show Aikawa)
Riki Takeuchi	...	Shûichi Sawada
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Noriko Aota	...	Chieko
Edison Chen	...	Boo
Genta Dairaku	...	Chinese Gangster
Ken'ichi Endô	...	Kôhei
Hiroko Isayama	...	Woman in black hat
Masato	...	Hoo
Yûichi Minato	...	Head of orphanage
Ren Osugi	...	Mizuki's stepfather (as Ren Ôsugi)
Manzô Shinra	...	Big bro.Toshi
Tomorô Taguchi	...	Man with telescope
Teah	...	Woo
Tôru Tezuka	...	Teru, informant
Shin'ya Tsukamoto	...	Magician Higashino

Storyline

Two contract killers cross paths in the middle of the same job and realize they are childhood friends. Together they take a break from killing and visit the small island they once called home. After reflecting on their past lives they decided to team up and use their talents in killing for good... much to the upset of the crime syndicates.

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Plot Keywords:

dark comedy | murder of a nude woman | nudity | wearing sunglasses at night | childhood friend | 

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Thriller

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Release Date:

2 December 2000 (Japan)

Also Known As:

Dead or Alive 2: Runaway

Company Credits

Production Co:

Toei Video Company, Excellent Film, Daiei Motion Picture Company

Technical Specs

Runtime:

97 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Connections

Followed by Dead or Alive: Final (2002)

User Reviews

Quite different venture from Miike

Dead Or Alive 2 isn't the regular sequel one might expect it to be. Remember, we're dealing with Miike here-and-frankly, this is so weird that it's hard to really claim it to be a sequel at all. The two main characters from the first piece are being kept here and they both make a great performance here.

The story itself is being brought to life by two contract killers who happen to stumble on each other, who turn out to be friends from childhood. Miike ventures into a quite different visual plot, following both the actual Yakuza violence taking place in Tokyo whilst the story's two protagonists are residing on an island in the countryside where they were brought up. I guess I have to see it one more time to really make up my mind about things, but the first impression was neat, as always with Miike. The landscapes and views being exposed in this film is simply amazing and while the thrills of violence aren't numbering as much as in its prequel, there's a good weight put here to comedy and humor instead. Thumbs up. Can't wait to see the final in the trilogy.