Don't Believe the Hype

If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.

A finely crafted gangster film about three brothers, each with his own relationship to a powerful crime syndicate, and a heist the middle brother plans on that syndicate. The story and plot easily bears comparison with any in modern movies with a similar theme. Even the two song-and-dance numbers make sense, in that they serve to characterise the younger brother's gang as youthful and naive. Well worth seeing - even if you don't speak Japanese.