Five years after the riots Shibuya, Tokyo gangs had had a period of peaceful time, until Kim and two other members of Musashino Saru penetrated territory of Wu-Ronz in Bukuro. Mera, the leader of Wu-Ronz killed three Saru and began a bloody war.
There's a strange power to Sion's filmmaking that goes beyond the midnight-movie oddness of the plot. He likes the silly and the strange, but he has the style of a Spielberg; he can work wonders with a camera and make the dumbest ideas work.
The novelty factor fades midway through, and not even the bizarre sight of a (computer-generated) tank rolling down the streets and bombing buildings could really sustain or amplify the flagging energy of it all.
Even to call it a perverted ultra-violent dystopian Japanese gang war hip-hop musical, while covering all the bases, would miss what makes the film so indelible.
It's an infectiously over-the-top and unquestionably idiosyncratic mess, but it only holds together for as long as you're impressed by its commitment to an admittedly novel premise.
