Yakuza Princess (2021 | Brazil | 111 mins | Vicente Amorim)
Akemi (MASUMI), a young woman living in São Paulo, is restless and wants to leave. She just lost her grandfather in a hold up and felt adrift. Before she could move on to a new life, excitement found her and she’s thrown into the middle of an age-old Japanese crime-family war. Unknowingly part of one of these families, an ancient katana lands in her lap along with a stranger (Jonathan Rhys Myers) who can’t remember who he is, much less why he’s drawn to her. Running on instinct and a small bit of info from friends of her grandfather, she travels to a hidden compound where things begin to reveal, and unravel, themselves. She discovers her destiny and for some reason knows the stranger fits into it.
One of the most redeeming qualities of the film was the loving homage to classic kung-fu and martial arts movies. An unassuming youth who has studied martial arts (or sword fighting) their entire lives finds out they are the most powerful or important person in an age-old feud. It’s an old story that never actually gets old. I loved the concept and while the execution of it wasn’t completely believable and the editing could have been done better, it was a solid attempt at an interesting story. I’d argue there was too much story and not enough movement; at times I was lost in minutia that wasn’t helpful to the plot, just added complexity. It was also glaringly obvious they wanted to build a franchise rather than a solid individual film that may lead to more in the future. It ended on a cliffhanger that instead could have resolved itself in this film and lead to a more enticing well-rounded second story to pick back up on. I was left weary and unsatisfied by the choices they made, not that there wasn’t enough blood splatter and “excitement” to be found in Yakuza Princess, it was pretty unapologetic about the gore, but sadly still seemed stilted.
The one semi-famous actor in the cast, Rhys Myers, was simply there to add star power and attention. His role was fine and his acting was fine, but it wasn’t anything to write home about. I’m not sure if he’d lost weight for the role or if he’s taken on gaunt chic as his new look, but I was surprised to find him behind that scraggly beard and dulled blue eyes (normally so piercingly beautiful that I can’t look away). Either way it wasn’t his best performance and I was a little confused by his character’s role other than adding an air of mystery and someone to kick the crap out of throughout the film.
I wanted to love it because it’s based on a graphic novel (though only available in Brazilian Portuguese and barely available at that… I tried to find it), but it ended up ambling along with very few moments of absorbing drama and I didn’t care much about what happened to the characters. Perhaps this will be a Twilight situation where a poorly made first film will be a proof of concept for a bigger production company to snatch up the rest of the series… if there is one.
Yakuza Princess is on VOD and in Theaters now.