wasteblock E17

Dead End Run is a movie about running away. No matter how you try to run away, you will always end up experiencing a bizarre and possibly ironic event. There are three stories in this movie. The first is a man running away from a killer after he is involved in a fight. He accidentally kills a random girl who was walking by, thinking that she was the killer. Before he has a chance to decide what to do, she comes alive, and initiates a musical number about how they were destined to meet and that she loves him. She is still, however, dead. The second story is about a Yakuza that is being chased by a hitman, who when confronted looks exactly the same as the Yakuza. The third is about a suspected criminal being chased, who takes a hostage on a rooftop that turns out to be suicidal. He then tries to convince her not to do it, even though he was considering that as his way out of the situation.
This movie was directed by Sogo Ishii, and is shot very similarly to another of his movies, Electric Dragon 80,000 volts. There is a lot of running shots, utilizing many camera angles and techniques, including a very fast close to the ground shot that came up several times in Electric Dragon. There are actually very many cyberpunk elements in this movie, despite it being almost more of a drama or thriller. This movie is much more of a mind-game movie rather than cyberpunk action, though it does have a lot of very similar scenery. The last story arc has a twist that I was not expecting, which is becoming a rarer and rarer thing for me. One of the best things about the strange events is that the movie makes no effort to explain them, leaving them up to imagination. An interesting and well done movie.

7 out of 10.

Labels: 7, action, asian