Dead or Alive: Final (2002)

the leading man is my tpye

Excellent adaptation.

if their story seems completely bonkers, almost like a feverish work of fiction, you ain't heard nothing yet.

The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;

The ace cop of a totalitarian police force and a drifting android play their parts in a post-apocalyptic society. They are destined to fight. Their encounter will change them forever.What we have here is Miike going full-on Miike, letting his absurd vision overtake any attempt at a rational film. Some may appreciate that. For me, other than that funky saxophone player, I find it to be a waste of just about everyone's time. The film is rife with references to "Blade Runner", "The Matrix", "Brave New World" and others -- sometimes not so subtle. And although this is allegedly the 2300s, no attempt is made to make it look anything different from the year 2000. Which means, watching it in 2017, it already seems silly and dated.Tom Mes sums up his thoughts on the movie by saying it is "too much of an in-joke and not enough of a fully developed film." Deferring to the master, I would have to agree. Miike pumped out many video releases over the years, and continues to do so. Because of his prolific activity, some of the movies come out half-baked. This is one of them. Really for the die-hard fan only.Although Arrow Video had Tom Mes record commentary for all three "Black Society" films and the first "Dead or Alive", he mysteriously does not provide commentary on parts two and three of "Dead or Alive". In fact, the special features seem to be primarily focused on the first film, which is a bit of a shame (even if we can all agree it is the most iconic of the series).

The original Dead or Alive (1999) was a straight to video police/Yakuza cross-over that opened with a rock-video style montage and climaxed with a scene of jaw-dropping implausibility. It took on the clichés and characteristics of the usual police dramas that we're familiar with, but infused them with all manner of bold and brash directorial flourishes and much in the way of attention grabbing shock sequences. This second follow up - which takes the same lead actors from the first two DOA films and drops then into a whole new setting as entirely new characters (giving us a sequel in the thematic sense alone) - tones down the excessive violence and the outré spectacle even further than the preceding Dead or Alive 2: Birds (2000) - to give us an oddly uneven film that strives to tie together the various ideas of destiny, identity, karma and reincarnation, whilst simultaneously offering us a strange combination of the worlds of Ridley Scott, Wong Kar-Wai, Shinya Tsukamoto and Takashi Kitano, respectively. What we have then is an increasingly odd construction - part action film, part cyber-punk pastiche - bringing to a close this always daring Miike Takashi-directed meta-trilogy, in a way that will please all fans... without necessarily blowing them away.With these factors in mind I would definitely agree with the general online consensus - which considers this to be a step-back from the first two films, in particular the lyrical splendour of Birds (which could easily be listed as one of the best films of Miike's career thus far) - with the film in question seriously lacking that particular work's emphasis on character, or indeed, the first film's kaleidoscopic disregard for logic and convention. What we have instead is a fun little film that meanders along from one cyber-punk cliché to the next, occasionally coasting on a wave of broad humour, or a particularly nice directorial flourish; such as the title of the film appearing in the background on a giant CGI gunship, or the shoot-out in the alleyway that is incredibly well choreographed. None of this really adds up to a satisfactory whole, however, with the film, for me, seeming to be far too disjointed and direction-less, while the pacing, on a number of occasions, can seriously drag.Unlike much of Miike's work, Dead or Alive: Final can be vaguely described as "science fiction"; taking place in a post apocalyptic Yokohama, where the population is kept under rigid control by a half-crazed homosexual general and his army of secret police. Riki Takeuchi (Fudoh: A New Generation) is the hard boiled chief of one such unit, locking horns with Sho Aikawa's (Gozu) mellowed out drifter, who has taken up with the gang of idealistic rebels that have kidnapped Takeuchi's son. However, in true DOA style, the plot of the film is mostly nonsensical; ripped off from a variety of other sources such as THX-1138, Blade Runner, Tetsuo: The Iron Man/Body Hammer, Terminator 2: Judgement Day and The Matrix; with the whole thing used as nothing more than a concept that links these two continually warring characters thematically as well as metaphorically. As a result, there's no real dramatic tension; though a brief "Terminator 2 like" relationship between Aikawa's replicant character, Ryô, the wife of the rebel-leader and a wandering young boy suggest hidden depths and sub-textual notions of family and humanity, they're soon quickly replaced by more action and sporadic attempts at humour.There are still a number of things to recommend, however; chiefly, the film's visual design, which is presented in an Edward Hopper-esquire colour scheme of autumn yellows, vivid greens and the occasional cool blue. There are also a couple of fairly impressive action sequences that draw more on physical combat as opposed to the gun play that we've come to expect from Miike's work and the DOA series as a whole; with the scene in which replicant Ryô has to escape from Officer Honda and his gang of armed mercenaries (whilst also protecting a young boy caught in up in the midst of the action) being an obvious jaw-dropping standout. Once again, there are fine performances from the two leads, with Takeuchi reprising his role as the sort of antagonist-like character to Aikawa lovable rouge, while the supporting characters, padded out by a largely Chinese cast and a few characters that actually speak in broken-English, help to lend a sense of credibility to Miike's largely 21st century depiction of the far off future (recalling Jean Luc Godard's retro-futurist classic Alphaville, as well as Michael Winterbottom's subsequent Code 46).What follows is all in good fun, moving from scenes of staggering action to more gentle moments between Ryô and his adopted family; with Miike and his scriptwriter making subtle allusions to that old sci-fi staple of the robots being more human than the humans. Sadly, none of these ideas really come to anything substantial though, with the film ultimately ending up as a visually impressive slice of sci-fi hokum with lots of Miike-like humour thrown in for good measure. Nothing here comes close to matching the level of brilliance that Miike has previously established - not only with the preceding Dead or Alive 2: Birds, but of course, with great films like Shinjuku Triad Society, Audition, Gozu, The Bird People in China and Visitor Q - but die-hard fans of the director are sure to find something to enjoy; if not the comical sparring of Takeuchi and the always enjoyable Aikawa, then certainly the rampaging sight of a gigantic Day-Glo robot with a purple penis head. Yes, you have been warned...

I'm so honored to see I'm one of the 3 women who have rated DOA: Final on the IMDb that I feel compelled to comment. Look, Ma, I'm an arcane-trash-cinema hound! Yippee! Right. Having seen all three DOA films in one evening at a triple-feature (this is what happens when you live in a small French city and only one cinema in town shows subtitled films), I'm in a terrific mood, because the movies were tons of fun. More fun than I'd been expecting, because Miike films seem to come accompanied with user comments like "Don't bring a girl to this." Thanks, guys. Anyway, DOA: Final is, sadly, easily the weakest of the trilogy. After DOA 1, which is a nutso, gutsy genre-jumping yakuza tale, and DOA 2, which pretends to be a yakuza tale for ten minutes and then turns into a Wim Wenders film (and a good one too), this last entry apparently wants to be science fiction. But, alas, it just can't cut the mustard.Sho Aikawa is the bright point -- as effortlessly, unclassifiably entertaining here as he is in the first two DOAs. With his bad bleach job, crackily teenage voice, tracksuit and sneakers, and zen spaciness, he's as counterintuitive and appealing as you'd expect in his role as a battle cyborg, or "replicant," named Ryo. If I could just watch him hang out with nine-year-olds for two hours, that might be worth the admission price. But even a blond Sho Aikawa is no Rutger Hauer, and he can't make this film work.The SF premise is of the most worn-out sort -- an authority figure is making people take anti-fertility drugs to stop them having children. Oh, no! The all-business, authoritarian hand of the state is placed in opposition to the natural world of human instinct, family bonds and lush jungle backdrops! That's enough to make a sci-fi movie, right? Throwing in a band of sex-friendly "rebels" doesn't help: Terence Yin and Maria Chen seem to have been cast more for their attractively Eurasian features and ability to look good in camos than for their acting talent. Admittedly, it's a tough trick to shuttle between three languages, but Yin's "acting" in English is just wince-worthy, and Chen isn't convincing even when she doesn't speak.The pompadoured Riki Takeuchi is fun, as always, here in the role of a police chief caught in a moral dilemma about whether to enforce his boss's orders. But returning to that SF premise, we have the problem of an unaddressed: WHY? What's the motivating engine behind all this evil-drug, Mad-Max-type-rebellion, anti-family stuff? Miike's very hand-wavy about this -- "It's an overpopulation thing" -- but, and this is the bad part, he's none too subtle about suggesting the bad-guy mayor's obvious homosexuality has a lot to do with it. Thanks, Takashi Miike! I guess homosexuals really are the ultimate threat to the survival of humanity, huh? I mean, come on, this crap went out with "Dune." Watch Miike associate homosexuality with pedophilia, decadence, pastel scarves and -- a sign of true evil -- saxophone concerts, in order to see why this movie has to get a three-point deduction for catastrophic moronicity.This is the only one of the three DOA films I wouldn't see again. It's not without its bright spots, but there are far too many negatives to make it hold together. In the little quality meter in my head, I was rating it as low as a 4/10, right up until the final five minutes. Then I started laughing my head off. The bizarreness of Miike's wrap-up pushes the whole experience up to a 5/10. But, you know, if an out-of-left-field conclusion improves the filmic experience, you can be pretty sure there's something wrong with the movie to begin with. Unfortunately, in this case there's quite a lot.

While Miike Takashi has not written any of the films he has directed, his style and formula (or lack thereof) has made him a force to be reckoned with in modern filmmaking. He takes the most mundane of stories and scenarios and gives it a fresh jolt of adrenaline and emotion, making his films seem as fresh and as original as anything by David Lynch or Stanley Kubrick. "Dead or Alive: Hanzaisha" was about a cop and a criminal struggling against each other and ultimately destroying both their families and themselves. "Dead or Alive 2: Tôbôsha" was about two hitmen rediscovering their innocence only to lose it again and ultimately destroy themselves. Now we have "Dead or Alive: Final," the third and final installment in a trilogy of films that are unrelated to each other...and yet they've all got something in common besides the director and the two main actors."Dead or Alive: Final" plunges us into Yokohama of 2346, where a homosexual mayor has outlawed human breeding and keep srigid control through use of birth control pills and his chief enforcer, Officer Honda (Takeuchi Riki). Standing in the mayor's way is a group of rebels, led by Fong (Terence Yin) and Jun (Josie Ho), who now have a new ally, a "replicant" by the name of Ryo (Aikawa Sho, still sporting his cool blond hair). Immediately, the "Blade Runner" references run rampant, right down to the terminology. The use of the word "replicant" to describe Ryo, the omnipresent floating blimp with the huge TV screens flashing advertisements, the decrepit rain-swept environment of a ravaged city, even the characters themselves, all homages to "Blade Runner." Oh but there are other sci-fi nods too. Elements of "THX-1138," "The Matrix," "The Terminator," etc...it's all there, making "Dead or Alive: Final" almost a satire (and sometimes a parody) of sci-fi cinema.There's more than just the humorous nod to sci-fi going on. Yet again, Miike has given us a few thrills via his "Don't expect anything" style. While there is nothing truly shocking in this film compared to its predecessors (save for the ending), there is still the nod to Kitano's films (i.e. beautiful scenery, long shots of characters, and even a few beach scenes). But while Kitano is poetic, Miike is like a jackhammer, hitting you full-on in the face with his own brand of filmmaking. The story is nothing new, and even the characters are easily understood and familiar, but there is something about Miike's gritty take on the conventions of genres and cinema that gives it an originality. Who else but Miike could make three completely different and unrelated films and tie them all together into a package that is both confusing and cohesive? Okay, so the ending still threw me for a loop, but it was typical of Miike.In the end, we are left with many of the same themes...the predominant one being that some people just never quit, and in the end it will destroy them. Honda's son is kidnapped, and even after he is returned, he is still hellbent on stopping the rebels. Ryo could easily back out of the fight and go on with his life, but he can't. The evil dictator could easily allow people to live their lives as they see fit, but he refuses to relent. Even a scene where a rebel is given the choice to either die or take the birth control drug, he decides to die for a cause that is pretty much lost. In all three "Dead or Alive" movies, nobody quits...and as a result everybody dies. The people who do know when to back down are the ones who survive. Ryo and Honda can't quit...and in the end, they meet for their final showdown, which resonates their endings in the previous two films. The tie in is not as neat as it could have been, but again, it's typical of Miike to give us something we really would not have expected, and at the same time that it's shocking, it makes a strange kind of sense. "Dead or Alive: Final" ties in all three movies, but not in the way that you might think. It yet again presents the same themes but from a completely different angle. It's like telling the same story...but not the same story. The idea is the same, but the details are different. There is the essence of the "Dead or Alive" films, and is probably the essence of Miike's films. They're nothing new...and yet, they are. It's not for everybody, but it's certainly different.