18 years after the audacious brain child sprung to life known as "Tetsuo II: The Body Hammer", and its predecessor 2 years prior known simply as "Tetsuo", Japanese-native director Shinya Tsukamoto seeks to revive the crunch, clang, clash, and clunk of the cult films that garnered him a certain recognition among those fans with an appetite for destruction - and heavy machinery. Now in this year's "Tetsuo: The Bullet Man" Tsukamoto's tireless and relentless approach to an array of assaulting action sequences leaves room for humble admiration on the adept use of his lens and a budget the antithesis of a project like "Iron Man 2", but beyond that the story he sets out to tell dubiously lacks the impact those skills would be equipped to provide. Once you've gotten past the charms of its director's mythological approach to present a premise that invites us to bask in absurdity, from there "Tetsuo: The Bullet Man"'s angsty tirade against archetypal bad guys amounts to about as much as, well, a bullied manga fanboy's wet dream. If you haven't cleared the room yet, you should probably check out those titles before it. Still, I'm no expert on the elusive realm of Japanese cyberpunk films.
"Bullet Man" follows half-Japanese, half-American business man Anthony (Eric Bossick). His hair is slicked back and almost cemented on his scalp, matching the generic black and white suit/tie combination that has him hermetically sealed in the framework that suggests - to quote Huey Lewis and the News - "it's hip to be a square". Anthony has a loving wife Yuiko (Akiko Monou) with a sweet and innocent agoraphobia. Their son, Tom is the light of their lives. Their humble resting place is a cleanly, sleek Tokyo apartment. It's the house the cubicle built. If the anger that fuels Anthony's metallic wrath set to ensue at all needs justifying, this pent up, rigid sense of one note daily living would rightfully serve on that account.
But the film's minimalist family portrait (something of an east meets west Hallmark card), doesn't so much provide the empathy necessary to care for the lives at stake as much as reach for a serene backdrop on which to quickly amp up the exploitative thrill seeking recreation of watching that same family come crashing down. On a father-son walk back home, Anthony is soon crippled with the trauma of his own nightmare realized, as his son is murdered with reckless abandon by a mysterious driver, carrying out the wishes of a vast conspirator - or something like that. Tsukamoto's concerns seem to lie within a boyish infatuation with frantic sensationalism; "Tetsuo's" choice aesthetic could sooner provide medical explanation for those media-induced seizures among youths in his native country of Japan than present a coherent story.
"Tetsuo" takes a small an interest in the subtle insights that are presented, like Anthony's father's neurosis about proper health care. Or a comment on the need to continue the frivolities of work life in the midst of tragedy, to meet the expected white-collar status quo. Still, if they ever surfaced, any narrative attention span was quickly scrapped for technical work that seeks to blind viewers with compensation. Maybe "Tetsuo" has something to say about the cold-hearted and plastic nature of corporate professionalism - or maybe it doesn't. What's left of these 88 minutes becomes an excuse to show off expertly crafted obsession capability, leaving observation carelessly on the wayside.
Much can be extracted from "Tetsuo" on its high levels of achievement in cosmetics. Tsukamoto's visuals are a dizzying, but effective exercise in technique which provides explanation for how the director has made this franchise somewhat renowned. The inspired and heavy industrial soundtrack by composer Chu Ichikawa injects crunching synths and electronic drum pulses that give "Tetsuo" a life from its opening credits that inches toward adrenaline-charged romp. Still, once this thin illusory layer is removed, the movie's agenda to legitimize preposterousness remains an urge it can't seem to curb, nor properly achieve.
Anthony and his wife instead lead an almost pointless existence, pressing through excessive violent dirge, screaming and crying as victims of their bizarre predicament. The message I took away: Being a machine - or a machine's wife - is no picnic, especially when it's not by choice.
The origin of his misfortune lies in his father's desire to have Anthony protect himself. He learns through an encounter with dad that a team of scientists were consulted to incorporate him in a project that blends the organics of humans with a quasi-camp biochemistry experiment, rendering him the metallic creation known as Tetsuo. Anthony's internal sprouting weapons, including a gatling gun buried within his chest, are present at the cost of an emotional anger-meter. Whether this concept is conscious or unconscious of "The Incredible Hulk" I'll leave viewers to decide. At one point Anthony's robust, mutated head inverts and fires away, in a botched half-man/half-machine suicide attempt. Then following an oily, bloody leakage of the face - Anthony's still alive - and then more crying.
There's a sensationalism that makes "Tetsuo" watchable, and with its short and speedy running time, the picture thankfully doesn't overstay its welcome. Just how welcome it is, though, remains to be seen. Dual English and Japanese dialogue would imply an aspiration to cross over this subset into the popular territory of American rehash, and I only hope the idea gets left alone. Would-be remake producers: spare us the unrest. Tetsuo would sooner be more entertaining to one's imagination as a daydreamy comic strip doodle with graphic novel ambitions than the subject of an entire feature film.
★★☆☆☆ (2/5)
Cast & Credits
Anthony: Eric Bossick
Yuriko: Akiko Monou
Mitsue: Yuko Nakamura
Ride: Stephen Sarrazin
Tom: Tiger Charlie Gerhardt
The Guy: Shinya Tsukamoto
Askmik Ace Entertainment Ltd. presents a film directed by Shinya Tsukamoto. Produced by Shinichi Kawahara & Masayuki Tanishima. Running Time: 88 minutes. No MPAA rating.
You can find this review, its supplemental materials, as well as other extensive film coverage at EInsiders.com.
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