Tokyo Tribe

Shrill, obnoxious, and unrelentingly tacky. Once again, women are being controlled by repulsive men, and even though they fight back with a vengeance, the sea of tits and ass makes me think Sono is amused by their oppression, or at the very least, has no problem fetishizing women for entertainment's sake. Sometimes he gets away with it (See his film TAG), but this time he doesn't. Features the guadiness of a Snoop Dogg music video without the dope beats to back it up. I like Sono but this is eh.

Sion Sono promised a hip-hop musical about violent gangs, and he certainly delivered that...the question is: is it any good? Well, the sets and costumes are vibrant and colorful, there are some truly stunning action sequences and lengthy single shot scenes...plus the concept is brilliant. The harsh reality however, is that 2 hours of Japanese gangsta rap is probably 2 hours more of Japanese gangsta rap than anyone really needs to hear. It's pretty appalling stuff.

There's absolutely zero semblance of logic in the world of 'Tokyo Tribe' but with an impeccable sense of humor, immaculate visuals and production design (albeit with some iffy SFX), exciting action, and a dope soundtrack, this ostentatious two-hour long music video will definitely hype you up.

This over-the-top, neon-tinged, hip-hop action-comedy is fun at first, then gets increasingly hard to appreciate. Starts out as an exuberant, exciting and weird film, but the lack of variation eventually wore me down.

A complete mess, but the best kind of mess.

Maybe the biggest feat Sono pulls of in this is to keep the manic energy level extremely high from the first second to the last. He manages to do so by keeping the camera constantly moving, I think there is no steady still shot in the entire movie. Having to listen to 2 hours of mediocre (at best) Japanese rap keeps me from loving in this more.

Watch Burst City instead.

I liked it ... but it's a mind numbing barrage that made my brain shut down about 20 minutes in.

There was a lot I liked about Tokyo Tribe but, being a fan of the manga, there was also a lot to disappoint me as well. I did enjoy the fact that it was a Rap Musical which made the whole movie more lively than it really should have been. I wish there would have been more character development within the gang. One of the reasons I liked the manga was because I really felt like I knew the characters. Here that is thrown to the wayside in favor of over-the-top-ness.

"It ain't Dick Size! It's the size of a man's heart that makes him great!" -Kai-

It's the size of a man's heart that matters, not the size...well, if you really need the text of that particular sermon, go ahead and tune in, but be aware that WEST SIDE STORY this ain't. Presumably there is a target audience for this that doesn't include me, but it's just all too loud and frenetic, with too few compensations. Could be Sion Sono's worst movie.

Imagine Sion Sono made a hip-hop musical adaptation of The Warriors, shot like the world's gaudiest music video, and you'd have a pretty good idea of Tokyo Tribe. Unfortunately, even compared to Sono's typical films, this is wildly scattershot and uneven. Usually there's a coherent, overarching theme stringing together his wild setpieces, but here it just kind of bounces from scene to scene. It's certainly not dull, but it feels like a trifle.

HOW CAN A MOVIE WITH NOTICEABLE FLAWS BE PERFECT?! WHY WAS I LOVING IT DESPITE HAVING REASONS NOT TO?!?!

Feels like a strange dream

A lot to take in, and when all is said and done much of it is superfluous. Still, it's presented surprisingly well and delivers hard on its promise of cheesy, catchy music and cartoonish portrayal of street gang warfare.

I was fond of the music in Why Don't You Play in Hell? (with all its Tarantino comparisons) so it was nice to see Sion develop a hip hop musical. Together with the fight choreography which was, for the most part, very good, Tokyo Tribe had enough to keep me entertained. That said, some of the actors shouldn't be rapping, the rap lyrics were corny (true to the musical genre, I suppose), and Takeuchi as the yakuza boss was too hammed up and pointlessly vulgar even by Sion's standards.

It did everything it intended to do. I'm still not sure what that is but it did it.

<3

TOKYO TRIBE, MUDAFUCKAS!!!!

i understand that this film was a comedy, and geared towards a very specific audience. i think keeping that in mind, it set out what it intended to do. but speaking on a personal level, i can't say i was a fan. at all. it felt a lot like watching a loud (both visually and sonically) videogame. the brash hyperrealism is definitely not my cup of tea, and given that, on top of everything else, almost every line of dialogue in the film was rapped, it was just too much to take in.