[KFCC] Yamakasi Review

Story: They are an urban ninja group known as the "Yamakasi," a clan of seven modern day samurais who scale and climb buildings in order to get closer to the skies and be free. Their discipline and ritual practices of the art of motion are hindered when a young boy, in an attempt to mimic his "Yamakasi" heroes, falls from a tree and gets badly injured from a poor heart. Feeling responsible for the accident, the Yamakasi begins a Robin Hood like adventure where they start to steal from the rich in order to raise the large sum of money for the boy to receive his operation. With the police on their trail and 24 hours before the boy loses the bid on the heart implant needed to save his life, the Yamakasi has the flight of their lives around Paris.

Review: Contrary to popular belief, the word, "Yamakasi," isn't Japanese in origin, but comes from the language of Lingala, mostly used in Zaire and Congo. The translation of it would be "strong body, strong spirit, strong man." This basically, would be the underlining theme throughout "Yamakasi."

The trailer of this film had me uber hyped. I was watching ninja-like stunts from rooftop to rooftop and super flips of amazing agility off of buildings and onto cars. The actors in the film had the cool look and the character designs had the mean streets edge I've always liked in asphalt action. But in all honesty, the film didn't live up to my expectations. I liked it a lot actually, but I had that "Damn, this could have been even more awesome if…" type of feeling afterwards. Maybe because it was rated PG and aimed at youngsters. Or maybe it was because there was absolutely no killing in the film! Not that I enjoy watching people get killed or anything, wait… maybe I do, but I expected "Yamakasi" to have the intense and extreme action I've always known Luc Besson to provide.

Though, watching the film for what it really is rather than what I expected is a whole other ball park. It actually has some moments of genius in it and is quite beautiful at times. For first time actors, the "Yamakasi" kids really had the spark that drove the film in the right direction and even provided the flashes of comedy to really make their characters likeable and charismatic. Even doing their stunts added a feel of authenticity to the film, for there was no wire work nor CG placed anywhere.

Some of the notable scenes were the high security mansion scenes where the guys run into some unexpected trouble and a slew of stylistic action sequences take place. The camera work for this scene is very Christophe Gans like in progression, and looked very cool. But the most obvious fault of this film is the fact that this scene was the highlight of the movie for me. Though the "Yamakasi" prides themselves on their nimbleness and prowess, we barely get to see enough of it displayed and put into action. When it does happen, though, it's pretty damn awesome.

Probably another gripe I had about the film was that it wasn't as high voltage in the audio department as I had assumed. You hear a lot of French hip hop through out, but it wasn't "bumping" whatsoever. There are a few scenes of intense action, but the music is very light on its feet and almost kind of quirky. Sometimes I liked it, sometimes I didn't. Basically, as I mentioned before, "Yamakasi" is a mixed bag, with some interesting and refreshing ideas, but overall very gentle and soft in its execution.

I've always been a fan of Luc Besson. Though I'm more a fan of his directing, his producing isn't too shabby either. With films underneath his producing belt such as Jet Li's "Kiss of the Dragon" and the double trouble feature of "Taxi" and "Taxi 2," Besson has definitely brought audiences some of the craziest, most adrenaline pumping action films from his home country of Europe.

But I have to admit, "Yamakasi" is probably his most different film. Though in terms of style and content, Besson's writing is there, but the overall direction of Ariel Zeitoun has to be the mellowest and most wholesome of anything I've ever seen Besson been a part of. With its PG rating and fun, good hearted message, "Yamakasi" is a decent fare in Parisian urban mayhem.