Admittedly, with the new director, this is significantly worse, and barely qualifies for 4 stars. The introduction of a (male) love interest muddies the waters, the themes aren't quite on brand, and, worst of all, there was no kill montage covering everybody she had to take revenge on at the end. The body count should have had something like 3-5 extra people!!! Come on...
Still, there's a lot to love, like the backdrop on the gallows built for her and her alone, the sets in general, Meiko Kaji taking the spotlight back in the final act, the unlikely nature of Matsu's execution of that cop (after an interminable stretch where that loser was the center focus), or Matsushima's various fits. Obviously, Kaji's performance is incredible.
In retrospect, something I haven't mentioned about this series is that, unlikely as it sounds, it actually makes me feel very seen in a lot of ways. If you've read a lot of my reviews, you might understand that, or you might not.
"These are 'souvenirs' from the cops."
alt. quote: "How could the police do a thing like this?"
Admittedly, with the new director, this is significantly worse, and barely qualifies for 4 stars. The introduction of a (male) love interest muddies the waters, the themes aren't quite on brand, and, worst of all, there was no kill montage covering everybody she had to take revenge on at the end. The body count should have had something like 3-5 extra people!!! Come on...
Still, there's a lot to love, like the backdrop on the gallows built for her and her alone, the sets in general, Meiko Kaji taking the spotlight back in the final act, the unlikely nature of Matsu's execution of that cop (after an interminable stretch where that loser was the center focus), or Matsushima's various fits. Obviously, Kaji's performance is incredible.
In retrospect, something I haven't mentioned about this series is that, unlikely as it sounds, it actually makes me feel very seen in a lot of ways. If you've read a lot of my reviews, you might understand that, or you might not.
"These are 'souvenirs' from the cops."
alt. quote: "How could the police do a thing like this?"
