Lesson of the Evil (Takashi Miike, 2012)

5.5/10
Takashi Miike's other new movie, supposedly more of a return to his "controversial" and shocking past...ehh only sorta. It's another high budget affair (I don't think Miike has to worry about not finding backers anymore regardless of what he wants to do) but it is a little more transgressive...essentially a well-liked teacher, in response to a variety of logical and illogical circumstances, loses his mind and mows an entire class of students down with a shotgun. More or less.
Of course, the image of a teacher stalking his students and shooting them in cold blood is a little unsettling, but the movie is too cartoonish to really be offensive in any measure. It's not really saying much, and its plot kind of jerks forward making some weird detours along the way. I don't know, it's not inventive enough like a Battle Royale, but it's not funny enough in its absurdity either, so it's just kind of there.

Shield of Straw (Takashi Miike, 2013)

6.5/10
The first of two Takashi Miike movies at Fantasia this year, this one being the festival opener. It's a big budget police thriller that also played in competition at Cannes. The premise is simple: the grandfather of a murdered 7-year old offers an incredible cash sum to the person who kills the killer (and will even pay millions just for a worthy attempt). The killer turns himself in to the local police station, and a team of 5 police officers have to escort him to Tokyo safely. It's something of a 2013 update of previous perilous journey movies - The Wages of Fear, 3:10 to Yuma and The Warriors all sprang to mind.
Of course, the premise may not be entirely logical (especially some of the decisions made by the police force) but it allows for plenty of hazards and set pieces for Miike to work with, as they travel by bus, train, car and foot. If you don't let the logic get to you it's an enjoyable enough action/thriller with some obvious social commentary, although I found myself wishing Miike directed it 10 years ago when he could have done something really out-there with the premise. As the film stands now it's decent if undistinguished, and I could easily see it getting an entirely forgettable U.S. remake at some point.

Ace Attorney (Takashi Miike, 2012)

7/10
A defense attorney is a pretty strange character to base a video game character on (even by Japan's standards), and a movie based on a video game based on a defense attorney is stranger still. So why not go to Japan's reigning master of strange, Takashi Miike, to direct the movie? I knew nothing about the games going in, outside of the famous Phoenix Wright/"Objection!" meme, but that didn't really matter. Maybe some jokes were over my head but overall, it was easy to get into and likeable besides. Hiroki Narimiya brings an affecting, vulnerable charm to Phoenix Wright, the titular attorney, and Takumi Saito has an edginess as Miles Edgeworth (Phoenix's nemesis-turned-client) that makes for a magnetic presence. My problem mainly lies with the overly knotty plot and the way it untangles itself - Phoenix comes to a seemingly unsolveable block in the case, agonizes, resolves it a couple of minutes later, repeat ad nauseum (with repetitive flashbacks recapping what happened with the new information added in).
Of course, this leads to more time needed to wrap everything up - and at nearly 2 and a half hours, surely the material wears thin on even the most diehard AA fan? I should've asked the audience members who came in costume, now that I think of it...

For Love's Sake (Takashi Miike, 2012)

7/10
Must be Fantasia time in Montreal if I'm seeing a Takashi Miike movie in July. This was the festival opener, a musical/romantic comedy filled with Miike's signature sillyness. In fact, the movie is at its best when Miike is at his silliest - it starts to take itself a bit too seriously by the end and drags because of it. The musical numbers are ridiculously catchy and well-written, and often the film is quite funny though it's hard to figure out just when Miike is being serious and when he's being ironic. It actually reminded me a lot of Sion Sono's Love Exposure, but nowhere near on the same level. A tighter edit would have stopped the act from becoming stale, in the end.

Hara-Kiri: Death of a Samurai (Takashi Miike, 2011)

6/10
I don't generally like samurai movies, but I like Takashi Miike movies, so I gave this one a shot. It's definitely way, way more on the samurai side than the Miike side. It's a remake of a movie I've never seen, and it's in 3D (in what might be the most subtle usage of 3D ever, almost to the point of being useless), and it's definitely the most mature movie Miike has ever made. It's remarkably slow, and its eventual climax doesn't even come close to comparing to, say, 13 Assassins or Audition. It's a movie I admired more than I liked though, as it never really sucked me in. Enjoyable enough though.

13 Assassins (Takashi Miike, 2010)

8/10
The best Takashi Miike movie I've seen in ages is also his most mature, although not without callbacks to trademarks from his canon (gross-out comedy, body horror, slapstick and of course, gore). I'm no pro of the genre but 13 Assassins plays pretty much like a straightforward "jidaigeki" (it's a remake of an earlier film), wherein a group of disparate samurai must come together against impossible odds to vanquish some great evil, in this case the demonic Lord Naritsugu. For the first half of the film I almost felt like things were being played too straight, and was getting a little restless, but the gigantic (hour-long?!) action/siege scene makes it well worth the wait. Even if you're not a fan of action and bloodshed, it's almost impossible not to feel your pulse race during the battle, which is incredibly well filmed. Definitely a movie to see, if possible, in a crowded theatre, or at least with a group of friends. Overall a lot of fun.

Sukiyaki Western Django (Takashi Miike, 2007)

10/10
This movie was a fucking blast from beginning to end. It's a Spaghetti Western directed by Takashi Miike (Audition, Ichi the Killer, Visitor Q, etc) and the entire movie is done with Japanese actors speaking in phonetic English, with English subtitles. It's hilarious, the action is awesome, and the plot is surprisingly coherant. It's not a remake of Sergio Corbucci's Django but it uses similar devices (the name Django, the machine gun in a casket thing). Without a doubt the best Miike movie I've seen in a long time. Oh yeah, and Quentin Tarantino plays a sukiyaki-eating master gunslinger. Right on.