Yakuza gangster Yamamoto, played by Beat Takeshi, alias director Takeshi Kitano, is forced into exile in America. He arrives in Los Angeles with limited command of English and soon finds himself allied with African American gangs against the Mafia.. You could write the plot of this disappointing film on the head of a pin - there`s really nothing to it and, sad to say, Takeshi Kitano - who has made some great films in the past, notably Violent Cop, Sonatine and Hana-Bi does very little with the theme of the stranger in a strange land. The film`s incredibly, pointlessly violent - fingers are cut off, characters are shot, stabbed or blown up - hara-kiri is performed - the blood flows freely, but to what purpose? Kitano`s trademark sense of humour seems a bit sick in this context, and though there`s a good performance from Omar Epps as his American buddy, and some interesting camerawork but it all adds up to very little.
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