Bad Lands

Just worked. Took it's time but held my attention. I've seen a lot of movies that more or less covered the same ground but I'd really put this up with others that I also liked. At the end I asked my self why I liked it so much and I think in part it was because it didn't try too hard. All the performances worked. No loose ends. Oddly poetic. I'd put in the same category and at the same level as films like Night In Paradise but less grim or maybe Beasts Clawing At Straw but with a more of a leisurely pace. Given the terrain it covered it still managed to leave me feeling sort of uplifted. Or at least amused and glad that I watched it.

Whoever wrote this did a very good job of making it look like all of the characters in this were they for the entire time. You have the grifter Neri, whose akward way of talking and walking for some reason makes her look sexy. Then you have her brother who gets into debt gambling and then does a job to pay off said debt. Then you have the father and Goya rounding out the cast. They have limited screen time but you thought that they were there for the entire movie. As the story goes the father sold both Neri and her mother to trafickers, then later Neri wound up with Goya who then abused her and ruputred her left ear drum. She then returns to the father to work for his scam operation on old people . Later the father gets killed and they dicth his car and take the money. The brother pays off his debt and then later goes on to kill Goya for Neri. She finally goes into a disguise and makes her getaway from the authorities. It's a good watch. The beginning is slow but then picks up later on till the end. What I really don't understand is the 601 rating since there were only 2 reviews and they average to 7.5.

Here comes Masato-san with yet another interesting movie. I did enjoy Hell Dogs by him. Although, the story and characters are different, I did notice the pattern of Bad Lands being similar to that. The storytelling is slow and gritty. It picks up a little in the second half and the end is even more swifter. I like the details in the movie. It doesn't go around beating the bush. The main characters and supporting characters play their parts well. This movie is more poetic with some intriguing transitions from the start till the end which I won't go much into details. Superb acting done by Neri and Jo. Definitely worth a watch!