Director: Noboru Iguchi
Year: 2012
Country: Japan
Alternate Titles: Deddo sushi
Genre: Creature Feature, Horror/Comedy
Plot:
Trying to appease her grandfather, an aspiring sushi chef instead takes a job at a high-class hotel where her attitude about how the preparation differs from her training ends up putting her skills to the test when a curse turns the food against humanity and forces her to save everyone.
Review:
This emerges as an incredibly fun and goofy splatter comedy. Among the better qualities of this one is the fact that there's plenty of fun to be with how it tackles the extreme concept. This one gets a lot of mileage out of sushi preparation and the extreme lengths people go to to make it serviceable to others which is an incredibly goofy and silly concept in general. Focusing on her exacting processes and martial arts training which is where this one really goes overboard with the silliness. That carries over into the central premise in that this one is trying to sell the idea that reanimated sushi is capable of going on a rampage and eating people alive. This is such a goofy idea that it becomes a plausible storyline here with the series of outlandish antics. That provides the film with plenty of strong action, from the opening attack on the couple to the first attacks on the staff at the hotel where the reanimated pieces begin flying around grabbing everyone, there's a sense of fine cheese on display that continually appears to be featured.
The action is utterly enjoyable, from the sushi going wild on the corporate guides flying around the room and slicing up their bodies in reckless abandon to the individual battles against the creatures inside the hotel where the voracious creatures attack or manage to get put down temporarily to the later action of the ravenous swarms appearing as a group to launch their attacks by embedding themselves into different parts of the body make for a lot of fun as well as funny, cheesy goodness. Even the kung-fu scenes look good, and Rina Takeda is allowed plenty of opportunities to showcase her skills against the zombified followers of the sushi or the rude hotel guests that not only display her skillset yet also feature some genuinely hilarious moments. Along with the enhancement of the giant fish-headed creature in the final half, it has a lot to enjoy about it overall.
The few bits we get about the cast are quite enjoyable. Rina Takeda as our intrepid heroine Keiko delivers a stellar, worthy performance here. Her put-upon demeanor and introverted personality after the abuse by her father and bosses make her a sympathetic force in this one. Granted the opportunity to showcase her martial arts prowess at several intervals, she acquits herself well and we certainly follow her along the journey. Kanji Tsuda as her mentor Chef Tsuchida is a spectacular figure that's quite appealing. Given plenty of backstory to denote his place at the hotel and why he's no longer working there, and it's quite fun to notice him running around with her in the latter half. As well, we get rousing turns from a series of regulars in these films from Kentarô Shimazu, Asami, Takashi Nishina, and Tôru Tezuka who play their roles rather nicely without overstepping anyone. They're familiar with these films and respond to their characters accordingly.
Still, this one does have a few minor flaws. The main issue here is the atrocious CGI that propels this one forward which is just utterly abysmal in how it handles the creatures. There's a plethora of scenes here that play off the swarm of sushi-shaped globs floating around in mid-air attacking the people, and it never looks even remotely believable. The creatures come off as laughable blobs that barely interact with their surroundings only for a series of ridiculous streaks of blood-splatter to come flying out of wounds they supposedly inflict on everyone. Some of the humor might not be for everyone, as there's a wide realm of body humor and silly sight gags that might not be suitable or appealing to all audiences. As is typical with Iguchi, there are times when everyone tends to fart at the right moment or to engage in odd bodily functions which is the hallmark of his humor that runs rampant in the film. It really does become somewhat of a distraction.
Overview: ****/5
While it does have a lot to like, this one does have some problems involved here that are somewhat troublesome to get over. This one is really only inviting to fans of Iguchi's other films or fans of the underground Japanese splatter scene, while those that don't play into either fan-group are advised to steer completely clear of this one.
This review was originally published on Asian Movie Pulse and is gratefully reprinted with their cooperation.
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