Sunday 24 April 2011

Crows Zero: Fighting, hilarity and chain-smoking abound


Modern martial arts films have never really sat well with me. With the exception of the occasional star (like Ong-Bak or Seven Swords), they seem out of place and outdated. Crows Zero, however, is far from that.

Based on the manga Crows by Hiroshi Takahashi, the film tells the story of student Genji who transfers to the notoriously violent Suzuran High School and fights his way through the school to try and conquer it. The premise of the film is that each student has to fight others to 'recruit' them to their group. But Genji goes about this slightly differently in some cases (for example trying to get Makise laid to get him to follow him)

From the start, the action is beautifully choreographed with just the right level of exaggeration and humour thrown into the mix. The comedy in this film is fantastic. There were several instances I was crying with laughter by the sheer stupidity, especially as Genji and Ken (his drop-out life mentor) try to set Makise up on a date. 

All in all, the film is definitely worth the watch, even if you aren't a usual fan of the martial-arts scene. Final thoughts: Thank god for Japan. 

20 comments:

  1. Yeah, the modern martial arts film is not easily mastered. You get about 1 really good one a year nowadays.

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  2. Thanks for the recommendation, will look it up

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  3. oooh, i was actually looking for another japanese film to watch. will give this a try. thanks mate.

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  4. Might want to check this out

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  5. Give me some more Bruce Lee type stuff and I'd be happy.

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  6. Hm.. may have to check this out.

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  7. I never really like the manga. I'm not one for fighting manga and the adaptions to films never really suit my tastes. I may give it a twirl though, you never know it may become one of my favorites

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  8. Arahan will always be my favourite Martial Arts film.

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  9. Sounds good, I'll make sure to check it out.

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  10. good stuff - like the blog bro, check mine out if you get a chance
    http://alcoholics-unanimous.blogspot.com/

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  11. I've heard of it, I'll take a look

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  12. Since I'm a cultured American, I think I will check it out.

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  13. I haven't seen a martial arts flick since the original ong bak. I will definitely check it out. Thanks for the review.

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  14. Sounds interesting. One of my friends is big into martial arts, so I'll have to check this out.

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  15. Looks cool :)!

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    www.mematalks.blogspot.com

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  16. I'll have to check this out!

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  17. You're right, modern martial art films are not so good

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  18. Great blog. Old school martial arts ftw.

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  19. I love foreign films especially asian ones, will check this one out!

    Unrelated Randomness

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