Clevercell Very disappointing...

FirstWitch A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

Humaira Grant It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

Philippa All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

moneenerd After seeing at least 20 movies in his filmography, this is by far and wide the worst Miike film I've yet to see.Great premise, but the execution is all wrong.A samurai is crucified on a cross in feudal Japan, and spends the remainder of his afterlife travelling through space and time at random, hacking and slicing away pretty much everyone in sight. While there are certainly those characters who might represent the ills of modern Japanese society (particularly religion and big business), some of the violence is just downright incomprehensible, including the slaying of innocent children and the rape of mother earth (seriously). I had no idea what Izo was supposed to represent, nor half of the villains he encounters, and, as a reasonably intelligent art-house film fanatic, it absolutely infuriates me that I had to come online to figure all this meaningless and half-assed symbolism out.I get it Miike; you hate religion, technology, government, law, major corporations (like the ones you make movies for... ahem), and women. You love to get your audience talking, and you certainly love making critics think you are a thematic genius even when everything you do is lazy (given, he does make about 5-6 films a year) and pushing them to find hidden meanings behind things where there are none (example: all the ranting and raving about AUDITION being a feminist film). But by the looks of IMDb and RT ratings of IZO, I think this 2 hour mind-f*ck was the straw that broke the camel's back.Bad CGI, bad fight choreography, bad dialogue, bad acting. Sure, it's an "art" film, and so those things should be secondary to theme, plot, and message, but when 90% of the film is made up of sword fighting, you could at least try a little harder to wow us.This should be paired up with Takeshi Kitano's movie TAKESHI'S (ironice, since Kitano is in this movie), for they are both the most over-indulgent films by otherwise incredible talents in Japan cinema. File this under I AM A F*CKING GENIUS AND THE AUDIENCE WILL EAT UP ANYTHING I RELEASE EVEN IF IT'S JUNK.On a side note: I am still stoked for your 13 ASSASSINS remake!

sc8031 This movie is kinda annoying to sit through. There isn't really a plot, so much as a theme. The title character Izo abstractly walks through time and space and movie sets propelled by his hatred at the unfair and seemingly purposeless hierarchy of the universe. There are funny and interesting moments (and social commentaries) but it's too long and meandering!I am kinda disappointed here. Izo presents a lot of cool ideas and premises. I'm pretty sure it's based on a Japanese work of fiction and that there is some older Japanese movie about the story of Izo before his crucifixion. But in making this incarnation of the story so abstract, Miike leaves the viewer kinda bored and frustrated. I understand that this is some "Pierrot Le Fou" type of flick, where the viewer is almost "interacting" with the movie, but I've never been a fan of that stuff. I kept feeling like Miike was laughing at me for watching his film.And indeed, many of the actors are cast as novelties to be ridiculed, including the lead role and MMA fighter Bob Sapp (funny that Kitano Takeshi appears in this, considering his movies all rule the roost!). This is blatantly discussed on the extras DVD, where Miike says a bunch of not-so-profound things about art and music. I think Miike really does get a kick out of manipulating people, is the thing. It's kinda creepy.The music sucks, since it's mostly this exploited (autistic?) folk singer Miike fawns over. And yet Miike has a real skill for scene composition. The cinematography here is fantastic! And so are the actors who are NOT being exploited. It's a weird interplay, not unlike some of Woody Allen's interesting moments. You know, a really great cast, contrasted against a handful of really pitiful, blatantly exploited bad actors who aren't in on the joke.By the way, don't watch this expecting a samurai film. The choreography and fighting is purposefully ugly and oafish. This movie is quite blatantly an anti-samurai film, which brings to light Miike's perspective on the subject. The anti-dogmatic stance of this film indicates a non-conservative stance of modern Japanese society. Beautiful cinematography and interesting ideas don't make up for the purposefully manipulative and abstract portions of the film. I guess I can respect that Miike was trying to do something artistic here, but it's simply not that enjoyable or cathartic to sit through.

FunkyDan Having watched "Fudoh: The New Generation" just days before I saw this, and getting blown away by it, I came into this film with moderate expectations. Not just because I thought "Fudoh" was awesome, but because I'm a fan of the director's work, and "Fudoh" showed that some of his more underrated work was excellent."Izo" tells the story of a samurai crucified for being an inhuman and bloodthirsty man, who wanders in modern times, getting revenge for everything he suffered through. I must say, I found myself throughly disappointed. It started off pretty good, but eventually became too weird, even for me. It was too linear to be abstract, and too abstract to be linear. Also, because the main character is a spirit, and therefore already dead, there is no tension because no matter how much damage the protagonist takes, he just gets back up. On top of this, the films constantly cuts to some guy playing the guitar, for up to five minutes. I suppose the songs he plays may have some deep meaning in them, but they were lost on me. However, there were two things I liked about this film: 1. The main character looks like a Japanese Rambo, and pretty much acts like one too. 2. There was some decent gore in a few places, and some awesome fight scenes. Unfortunately, these two things are not enough to save the film. 2/5 stars.

fertilecelluloid A warrior travels through time and space and thoroughly butchers, in spectacular grand guignol fashion, almost everybody he runs into. Miike's "El Topo-like action-fantasy is a strange, stylish, confused melange of energy and anger, a poem to retribution, the sins of history, self-abasement and bloody ambition. High production values dominate and the action set pieces are quite beautifully filmed and choreographed. The blood spurts in glorious geysers and the theatrical stylings give the entire affair a kabuki feel. Unfortunately, the lengthy running time tests tolerance levels because there is little emotional weight between the sprockets. "Izo" is a cold film, a distancing film, but it has an intensity that is engaging and a sense of anarchy about it that recalls Oliver Stone's "Natural Born Killers". Although my favorite Miike films are "Visitor Q" and "Ichi The Killer", I enjoyed "Izo" in spurts (bloody ones, of course).