Chiba Check Up Vol. 1: Resurrection of Golden Wolf (1979)

Starring: Chiba Sonny, Matsuda Yusaku, Fubuki Jun, Sato Kei, Narita Mikio. Director: Murakawa Toru. Writer: Nagahara Hideichi, Oyabu Haruhiko (the source novel - other adaptation of his work Detective Bureau 2-3: Go To Hell, Bastards, Youth of the Beast, Cruel Gun Story). Cinematographer: Sengen Seizo. Editor: Suzuki Akira.

Ah...Hmm...Well...that was something. #ChibaCheckUp has already taken a fast nosedive into mediocrity since the rousing Machine Guns vs Samurai action of G.I. Samurai. I was hoping for maybe a Martial Arts crime caper or even a cop thriller starring Chiba. This was not that. This being Resurrection of Golden Wolf. When I see that Chiba is in something from this era I assume certain things. That is completely my own fault. He is a genuinely talented actor and sometimes he didn't play the badass or even a major character.

Working for Towa Oil can be a little tough. You're overworked and probably embezzling money. For Asakura (Matsuda Yusaku from Kagero-za), things are not as they seem. By day, he is a cowardly Stock Market drone. By night, he's a ruthless criminal who's not opposed to killing anyone in the way. Recently, a bank was robbed. 100 million Yen is missing. Who has it? Asakura does. The police know which bills were taken. The only way to wash this dirty money is through heroin. A beautifully shot action scene goes from stealth kills to a showdown between Asakura and a machine gun trio. He gets his heroin. Then starts his plan to takeover Towa.

I bet you're wondering where's Chiba. He isn't given much to do. He's a pimp that is familiar with Towa heads and they want him killed. Which happens and that's all.

Asakura takes a lover, Kyoko, in one of his boss' mistresses and she gladly helps. Once he takes over Towa, the Board gets her to kill him. She stabs him, a fatal wound. He attempts to strangle her but gives up and then she dies of a broken heart. Asakura takes a plane for a vacation and dies mid flight spouting nonsense.

It's just...uninspiring. Well, that's a bit harsh. Resurrection of Golden Wolf has a few good things going for it. That cast, holy shit, this is a great cast. You got Chiba, Narita Mikio (Battles Without Honor and Humanity and G.I. Samurai and Hunter in the Dark and Female Prisoner Scorpion: Beast Stable), Sato Kei (Sword of Doom and Harakiri and Yakuza Graveyard), Matsuda Yusaku (Suzuki Seijun's Kagero-za), and Abe Toru (Tokyo Story). This is a quality cast of very distinct and normally charismatic actors from the top tier of Japanese film and Mother-Fucking Ozu. So what went wrong?

Imagine this...take the ridiculous premise of the cinematic profession of the super-criminal and add some more players like a corrupt PI and then add a great cast. So far, so good, but something happened. In the synopsis, I skipped over alot. There are subplots growing out of subplots growing out of even more subplots to the point of ridiculousness. It's based on a novel but that doesn't mean you have to include everything from the novel. So much happens but there isn't much reason to care about any of it. And it all amounts to nothing. Yes, there are several great action sequences. Yes, there is internal intrigue. It just doesn't work. The climatic third act just happens exactly like it was setup in earlier but it's not satisfying or even interesting. Nothing worked for me, it never feels exciting or worried about the characters. It's a mayonnaise and white bread sandwich with extra mayonnaise slapped on, squeezing out the sides. There's also a slice of lettuce for flavor.

The cinematography in the action scenes is incredible. If you've played any third person action video games from 2006 to the present, it's like that. Every movement, stab, jump, punch, grab, etc is felt through the screen. Asakura even runs and does everything as if he's in a video game. Specifically, it feels like Gears of War or the recent viking God of War. The only problem, it made me want to just those games instead of watch Resurrection.

As I write this, I'm forgetting what even happened. My dog liked the end, she was more engaged than me. This was a struggle to get through for me. Maybe you'll like it more. It's on DVD, so there's that.