Review: Hard Revenge, Milly

By kevin on February 07, 2009 at 3:37pm EST

When it comes to hard-boiled revenge thrillers, it doesn’t get much more straight-forward than Takanori Tsujimoto’s aptly-titled Hard Revenge, Milly. Released as part of Ace Deuce Entertainment’s 2008 Neo Action Double Feature (see for our review of the other half, The Masked Girl), the film can probably best be described as an ode to Quentin Tarantino by way of Takashi Miike. The story is almost identical to Kill Bill, but with only 45 minutes to work with, Tsujimoto forgoes Tarantino’s sanctimonious chatter in favor of ramped-up violence and gore that straddles the oft-straddled line between disturbing and funny.

Tsujimoto is no stranger to short form action. Over the past few years he’s had the opportunity to direct frenetic short segments for several omnibus films such as Mamoru Oshii’s “The Women of Fast Food” and “Rebellion: The Killing Isle”, so 45 minutes probably seemed like an eternity to him. His bloodthirsty leading lady, former fashion model Miki Mizuno, is no slouch in the action department either; she studied Shorin Kempo from the time she was in junior high, later joining Kurata Action Club: the stunt agency of martial arts legend Yasuaki Kurata. After working with Mizuno in his segment for the aforementioned “Women of Fast Food”, Tsujimoto was impressed enough with her skills to recruit her services for a far more demanding role.

The film is set in a future in which deregulation of gun control laws has turned Asia into the epicenter of violent crime. Yokohama City becomes so lawless that it’s been all but abandoned by its former population—leaving behind only the crumbling remnants of a once civil society. The worst of the criminals, a gang of extreme masochists dubbed “The Jack Brothers”, take up residence in an abandoned factory in the northern part of the city.

The film gets right to the point, starting out with a woman named Milly (Mizuno) seeking out the assistance of an incognito swordmaster, Juubee (played by the late musician and cultural icon, Hiroshi Oguchi). She shows him a special gauntlet housing a broken retractable blade that bears his mark, and—mirroring the framework of Kill Bill—he reluctantly agrees to help her complete her vengeance. Fortunately there’s no prolonged training montage to sit through, as the film picks right back up with her mission. Through several flashbacks we learn her motivation: The Jack Brothers left her for dead after viciously murdering her husband as she watched helplessly. Robbed of her humanity—both literally and figuratively—Milly won’t stop until the entire gang has been righteously slaughtered one by one.

There’s sort of a reserved glee in the way Mizuno’s character goes about her business, although you’d never know it from her cold stare. Watching her casually prop up her first victim’s corpse for the others to find and use his severed hand as writing utensil should amuse the gorehounds, and her lack of outward emotion while doing it is downright chilling.

When the time comes for Milly’s final battle with her cartoonish nemesis (Mitsuki Koga), blades are exchanged for straight hand-to-hand combat. Koga trained in several forms of martial arts; including boxing, karate, and Muay Thai before becoming an actor—so watching these two go at it is really the crux of the movie. Everything from wirework to CGI is thrown in at this point, although the latter looks incredibly hokey and dated. Thankfully, the skill of the two leads more than makes up for that minor offense.

Given the production constraints, “Hard Revenge, Milly” turned out to be a surprisingly entertaining revenge flick. The use of mid-grade digital cameras may not make for a very pretty cinematic experience, but their mobility allowed for some unique angles and the filming of intricate action sequences within the confines of a relatively brief shooting schedule. The result is further proof that Takanori Tsujimoto is probably overdue for a shot at directing a major feature film. Hopefully the decision-makers, both domestic and abroad, will take a cue from this ridiculously violent little gem and throw some backing his way.