The Outsider

I for one thoroughly enjoyed this Netflix film, which is rare. Not sure what th deal with Metacritic rating it so low because I found it to be above average compared to most streaming originals. If you don't know the story, go ahead and watch the trailer, and for me, I was immediately drawn in to it by the trailer, because I'm a big fan of Asian crime films. And this film was not a let down in nearly any way. I loved the story, such a unique one in the time of super hero garbage and needless remakes of classics. The story pulled me in and the world it creates is a well represented one, definitely channeling other very successful Asian crime films. The action was true to the genre and definitely satisfied me.

Unfortunately not all the actors shined. Don't get me wrong, some had great performances, but others just seemed to be playing themselves, which I hate. As I said before, the world is well put together, seems very authentic with pretty good cinematography. I didn't like the pacing at some parts of the film but that really had no effect on the enjoyable experience. So I would say this is a pretty decent breathe of fresh air to see on Netflix, better than the majority of bombs that they put out into the public.

I would highly recommend it.

The critics are once again wrong. This is a good yakuza movie although there are better movies but I enjoyed this movie. It is slow going, building up characters. The climax and ending are good. Jared Leto is great in this movie, playing the silent but dangerous American who gets involved with the Yakuza. Leto's character is mysterious, maybe too mysterious. It would have been nice to understand his motivation and background. There is a small caveat to his former life but it is so small that it does not answer any questions except that's Leto's character is brutal. I didn't think this was the white savior type of movie like The Last Samurai. Please watch and support movies like this, movies that take a chance.

It's hard when the movie's main flaw is the main character. Nick is supposed to be this quiet and intense guy, but inconsistencies in both the writing and acting keeps this movie from being great. I like the concept. It's not an all-out action movie, more of a character study with bursts of violence. My kind of movie.

The 50's Osaka setting, the atmosphere, it's good. But the camera work doesn't take full advantage of the setting, and shots could've been better framed, better movement. The small budget shows. The audio mixing was acceptable but not great. In better hands, this movie would've been great. I'm not saying it's terrible, I enjoyed it. There wasn't any part of the movie where I got bored, I was engaged throughout. But at the same time, throughout the movie, I there were points where I was aware of how things could've been better.

I like Netflix doing unconventional stuff. But rather than make a lot of them, give them the budget they deserve to make them great.

Just because a movie has a snails pace, does not mean it can not be brutal and violent in spades. We got one of those cases right here. It's about honor and loyalty. A major part of the movie is in Japanese (with subtitles of course), but our main character is an english speaking one. Which is the old "stranger comes into town" kind of thing.

In this case his invasion into this culture that most westerners may not be that aware of, is really the driving force. He does learn fast, but he is also human, so he does have some urges and he has feelings too (even if sometimes you may think otherwise). Brutal, honest and without really taking compromises, this may feel too long for some, but will be a masterpiece for others.

Reminds me of the Yakuza (1974) with Robert Mitchum combined with Black Rain!

Stylish and dark beyond darkness; the brutality is almost clinical in its precision and execution just like the movie.

Critics - What do they know - there seems to be a difference between what critics say and the reality of what we all like and what is genuinely good!

This was a good film!