Story: A loser-of-life yakuza member, Hagane, can’t sink any lower. His yakuza brothers don’t respect him, his prostitute girlfriend doesn’t like him, and groups of hooligans freely beat him regardless of his yakuza status. Basically, he’s a walking joke in a fancy suit. But one factor gives him the will power to continue: his boss.

His boss sacrificed seven years of his life to give aide to the family in times of need. Before the big hit took place, the boss handed Hagane his wallet, acknowledging Hagane’s presence and devotion. When the day Tosa became free, a hit was ordered on him and Hagane was in the crossfire. The moment he wakes up, he realizes he has become none other than a cybernetic organism! What’s more is his head is fused with his admired boss’ body! With his newly found power and strength, Hagane seeks vengeance upon the ones who betrayed both him and his beloved boss!

Review: Oh what more is there to say about Miike Takashi that hasn’t already been said? What more can be added to this living legend of cinema to solidify his brilliance and ingenuity?

Nothing….everything has already been said.

So where do we go from here? Well, there is only one viable option. Like the films of recent times, when there’s nothing else left to say about a particular story, you make a sequel to the same story by EXPLORING THE PAST! ‘Full Metal Yakuza’ is one of Miike’s earliest works. Before his Ichi, he had Hagane. Possibly the epiphany of loser, Hagane is constantly picked on. The guy’s a hopeless! Well, when a loser is given incredible powers…..they return the favor to their bullies with a good ass-kicking.

What separates ‘FMY’ from its obvious source of inspiration, ‘Robocop,’ is the complete change of moral sides. A yakuza is the antagonist to any form of the law. When Murphy was granted a robotic advantage, his purpose was clear right off the bat: to serve the law and the innocent. When Hagane was constructed, his purpose was unclear. His creator may have justified Hagane’s new birth by his desire for a super hero, but it’s quite obvious that he had no real objectives for Hagane to fulfill other than his own fantasies. Both Murphy and Hagane were wrongfully murdered, and as human beings, vengeance is always the cure for anger. But, Robocop was always bounded by the limits of the law. Hagane was given the choice to immediately avenge his death. When the officers of the law betrayed Robocop, Murphy resorted back to the ultimate satisfaction: bloody revenge. Yet, when all was done, Murphy returned to serve his purpose. Hagane didn’t. Because Hagane’s memories are still intact, he knows what life was like. Right before the final blow, he realizes that he lacks life. What does he do when all is said and done? What is his purpose?

Life is the dominant theme of ‘FMY.’ When he resorted to the beach, Hagane spends his time reading books about life through fictional works. It seems that Miike was trying to construct his own Frankenstein story, or hell, even his own Pinocchio. Miike takes his time and carefully crafts a tale of a desire for life…..but at a horrible pace. The film takes far too long to kick into gear. The road from regular Hagane to robotic-Hagane is a long one. It’s nice that Miike sets up so much background, but everything he tries to say in the first thirty-five minutes can be summed up to a mere fifteen minutes and still retain the same effect. When the burst of violence occurs in the middle of the movie, it ends as soon as it starts. We are treated to Hagane trying to find meaning and purpose to his new life at a beach for the following forty minutes. Again, everything said in these forty minutes could have easily been compressed to fifteen. When the finale kicks in and we’re treated to our typical violently-delightful Miike fare, but that alone can’t save the film.

‘FMY’ seems to be an acceptable film in Miike’s career. It’s possible that Miike was still looking for his niche. It’s almost forgivable that this film was the way it was. But wait! A year earlier ‘Fudoh’ was released! The same ‘Fudoh’ that satiated our guilty pleasures! What happened in ‘FMY’?! My theory is Miike was beginning to dabble in the dramatic aspects of film and he tried to merge it with his pervasive ways, but failed to find the perfect equilibrium (which he would later perfect in ‘Audition’). Even the early scenes of violence in this film were tame by Miike’s standards! There was normal sex in this film! But all of Miike’s dirty portrayal of violence finds their way back into the reel in the grand finale. Bondage, rape, over-sized penises, exaggerated spillage of blood….the whole shebang-a-bang is here.

In retrospect, all of Miike’s film seems to have a slow pace. In ‘Dead or Alive,’ the meat that was sandwiched between the beginning and finale was thin, but full of flavor. In ‘FMY,’ the meat was kind of bland (with a few strokes of genius) and there was only one piece of bread holding it in place. Even thought the aspect of Hagane’s hunger for life seemed promising, the film just didn’t deploy its cinematic tactics very well. ‘FMY’ is a fantastic film for the Miike enthusiast to watch. It opens a window into Miike’s early career. As for newbies, they’re probably better off starting with ‘City of Lost Souls’ or ‘Dead or Alive.’