TokyoZombie

Tokyo Zombie (2005)

I love Japanese horror movies and I love zombie movies. I also love Japanese zombie movies like Versus. But yet again I just never got around to checking out Tokyo Zombie until I put my hands on a cheap copy from a video store that was going out of business. I have to say I’m pretty pleased that I finally checked this one out.

The movie is kind of strange and has a vibe to it that reminds me of reading a Manga. Of course this makes sense since the movie is based on a Manga, which is basically a comic book. The story starts off with a couple of guys that work at a plant that makes something. Never quite sure about it, but it doesn’t matter. All that matters is that they, Fujio and Mitsuo, love Jujitsu and practice it all the time. When their boss interrupts them practicing Fujio loses his temper and kills him. They end up burying the boss on the mountain of garbage near Tokyo. Here we find out that there is a zombie outbreak. The pair tries to escape Tokyo, but Mitsuo gets bitten saving a girl. Knowing he is dangerous to them he jumps off a bridge. 5 years later Tokyo has been overrun with zombies, and Fujio is fighting zombies in an arena for the amusement of the wealthy. Things go from bad to worse for him when zombie Mitsuo shows up as his next opponent!

Normally my reviews start off with the positives, but this time I need to point out the one thing that really bugged me about the movie. The first 30 minutes of the movie is absolutely crazy. You have one action sequence or joke after the other. Most of the best bits are right up front. Then the movie slows way down in the middle, before picking up again in the end. This isn’t a deal breaker, but I hate it when a movie teases me like this. That said if you sit down to watch Tokyo Zombie expecting a serious movie you are going to be disappointed. This is a very silly little flick that is populated with oddball characters that live in a weird world populated with zombies. If you tray and think to much about reality and how they eat or live after 5 years of a zombie apocalypse your brain might explode. You just have to sit back and kind of go with it! Personally with action that is so over the top and some of the really funny moments it is worth putting logic on hold for a couple of hours to watch this one.

Of course this is a zombie movie so we need to talk about the gore. The blood does flow and there is some gut munching to be had here. But be warned that the zombies and gore are all played for laughs. Like the rest of the movie it is way over the top and cartoon like. This might bug some hard-core zombie fanatics, but it fits with the tone of the rest of the movie, so I was okay with it. The zombie design and look is all right, but nothing too special. There aren’t any “stars” here, mostly just grey and blue faces shambling around.

Tokyo Zombie is good for a few laughs and has some gore. That alone makes it worth a recommendation. If you can pick it up on the cheap or rent it do so.

3 out of 4

reviewed by John Shatzer