Okay so I was a teensy bit disappointed by this movie, I had already become so accustomed to Shinobu Yaguchi's funny style of directing and crazy films such as The Secret Garden, Swing Girls and Water Boys- those movies are all five star movies according to me- but this one falls a bit short...
The premise in itself is kind of exciting and funny, but it seems that Shinobu wanted to tone down a lot of the elements from his usual movies to have a more "realistic" tone and pace. This is admirable in itself but for a movie that is called "Adrenaline Drive" one kind of expects to be put on the edge of the seat at all times, with laughs along the way... unfortunately there aren't many laughs nor much that happens- instead the happenings are sort of stretched in the two hours of the movie's running time... but the premise keeps you going and the actors act a certain way that is naive but in a way fun (not as fun as the other movies I mentioned though).
This is also the first movie of his that I know off (I haven't seen his later movies) that has an antagonist in the roles of a Yakuza and his underlings which is an absolute change of pace which is good- I like it he handles it good!
I guess my main problem is the pacing and the length of the movie, it feels really slow at places and the jokes are few and far in-between, but maybe that was what he wanted as well- to make something a bit more "realistic" (realistic in his terms because the premise is still crazy) and that is good but coming from seeing his other movies one kinda feels a bit disappointed by it not gonna lie. I'd say it's still worth a watch but be ready to spend a bit of time watching it cause it's a bit slow. Actually my fav part of the movie was the last part where he ramps up the comedy and the action of everything happening, perhaps a bit too late? Either way I think he should've shaved off at least 30 mins from this movie, then the pacing and perhaps the comedy would've been improved.
One thing that I like about this movie is that once you've seen a few of Shinobu's movie's you start to recognise the actors and that they reappear on almost all of his movies- this is so sweet, it feels like a troupe of actors that he loves working with- and I appreciate it so much, it feels like home in a way.
In all other aspects this movie looks great!
Check this out if you want, but if you're searching for the usual Yaguchi style of fun then you might be a bit amiss- some people might like the slower and more realistic place but I'm more split in the middle regarding that, I'm still happy I saw it and perhaps I'm going to watch it again sometime if I have a Shinobu Yaguchi marathon!
The premise in itself is kind of exciting and funny, but it seems that Shinobu wanted to tone down a lot of the elements from his usual movies to have a more "realistic" tone and pace. This is admirable in itself but for a movie that is called "Adrenaline Drive" one kind of expects to be put on the edge of the seat at all times, with laughs along the way... unfortunately there aren't many laughs nor much that happens- instead the happenings are sort of stretched in the two hours of the movie's running time... but the premise keeps you going and the actors act a certain way that is naive but in a way fun (not as fun as the other movies I mentioned though).
This is also the first movie of his that I know off (I haven't seen his later movies) that has an antagonist in the roles of a Yakuza and his underlings which is an absolute change of pace which is good- I like it he handles it good!
I guess my main problem is the pacing and the length of the movie, it feels really slow at places and the jokes are few and far in-between, but maybe that was what he wanted as well- to make something a bit more "realistic" (realistic in his terms because the premise is still crazy) and that is good but coming from seeing his other movies one kinda feels a bit disappointed by it not gonna lie. I'd say it's still worth a watch but be ready to spend a bit of time watching it cause it's a bit slow. Actually my fav part of the movie was the last part where he ramps up the comedy and the action of everything happening, perhaps a bit too late? Either way I think he should've shaved off at least 30 mins from this movie, then the pacing and perhaps the comedy would've been improved.
One thing that I like about this movie is that once you've seen a few of Shinobu's movie's you start to recognise the actors and that they reappear on almost all of his movies- this is so sweet, it feels like a troupe of actors that he loves working with- and I appreciate it so much, it feels like home in a way.
In all other aspects this movie looks great!
Check this out if you want, but if you're searching for the usual Yaguchi style of fun then you might be a bit amiss- some people might like the slower and more realistic place but I'm more split in the middle regarding that, I'm still happy I saw it and perhaps I'm going to watch it again sometime if I have a Shinobu Yaguchi marathon!