City Hunter

Hey Jethro, wha's this that came in the mail?

First off, Baxter, why'd you open my mail? Second ... "XYZ - Go to Netflix." 

What do they mean by that?

If I get the context, then someone wants me to review City Hunter on Netflix. It's the latest live-action film of Tsukasa Hojo's seminal eighties manga, but the first such adaptation from Japan. Hong Kong had one with Jackie Chan in 1993, while France had another in 2018 directed by and starring Phillipe Lacheau. I already had this film on my schedule, so let's play ...

(One movie later.)

Let's divulge what I thought.

Ryo Saeba (Ryohei Suzuki) is a private detective codenamed "City Hunter." He and his partner, Hideyuki Makimura (Masanobu Ando), will answer anyone who writes XYZ on a public message board in Shinjuku (hence my opening). Ryo can't resist a pretty face, to put it lightly, and one pretty face (Moemi Katayama) hires him to find her sister, Kurumi (Asuka Hanamura), a famous cosplayer. They find her being accosted by the Yakuza, but she doesn't want the "sweepers" (as the manga describes their line of work) to find her, either. She subsequently outruns and outjumps the duo in an extended chase scene. She even leaves behind two vials of a blue liquid.

Hideyuki heads off to join his younger adopted sister, Kaori (Misato Morita), for her birthday dinner. But a creepy guy literally crashes the party and kills Hideyuki. Ryo reluctantly partners with Kaori to track down the killers, and they even find Kurumi and take her in. It turns out that the blue liquid is the drug Angel Dust, a super-steroid that makes people stronger and aggressive before it kills them. It's manufactured by the evil Union Teope cartel and Kurumi is their first living test subject. The cartel wants her back to refine the drug. Ryo and Kaori won't let that happen.

(Now for the thoughts.)

I'm sure one's enjoyment of the film depends on their opinion of Ryo. His immaturity might rub people the wrong way, but I found it weirdly amusing. He still has standards, which is exemplified when he prevents some creepy photographers at a convention from getting too close to Kurumi with some goofy photobombing. That then leads him into blocking tranq. shots from Union agent Brown Bear (Yasushi Ami), and an on-stage fight with the aforementioned pretty face (codenamed Scorpion). He'll drop the immaturity the second he needs to, whether it's to console Kaori with tough love or when the bad guys get serious. Needless to say, he's a complicated character.

Kaori and Kurumi's stories are the centerpieces of the screenplay. Kaori initially blows her first meeting with Kurumi by running in blind, but after that, the two's quick friendship is fun to watch. There's some more weird fun when they team up to get Ryo to take their case. Kurumi even helps Kaori cosplay for the convention, where Kaori has some fun with her prop hammer (a nod to a running gag in the manga). Their friendship makes it all the more compelling when Kaori joins Ryo to save Kurumi at the end.

On a more serious note, Kurumi's initial evasiveness is understandable once we learn the extent of her plight. It's quite effective when she reveals that Scorpion, who introduced herself to Ryo as her sister, isn't. Kaori gets a few other great scenes; the first when she unloads to Ryo about her unresolved issues with Hideyuki and the second when she has Big Bad Kunio Konno (Takaya Sakoda) at gunpoint but can't bring herself to kill him. In the end, Kurumi gets a nice coda, while Kaori and Ryo get a funny last scene together.

The fight choreography, as mentioned earlier, is excellent. Besides the convention fights, Ryo shows off some astounding marksmanship against waves of goons, while the opening chase includes some impressive slapstick. The production design gives us an amazing laboratory for the Union. The costuming does enough to evoke the characters' manga selves without looking like cosplay, too. Still, the in-universe cosplay is quite alluring. The music by Otomo Yoshihide is nifty, but the end credits' remix of the anime's iconic closer, Get Wild, is easily the most memorable bit of music. There's not much wrong with the technicals, other than some obvious CGI, in this film.

City Hunter is newly available on Netflix as of yesterday. You might find its atypical hero annoying or entertaining, but the other two leads are undoubtedly endearing. At least you'll have some truly astounding fight scenes waiting for you once you press play. Its MacGuffin is also the plot device for the manga's latest anime film, City Hunter: Angel Dust, which debuted last September. There's supposed to be a theatrical release sometime this year, and I think I'll review it if and when it comes out. I'll be waiting.