4/5
The Outsider.
8 Episodes. Starring: Ansel Elgort, Ken Watanabe, Rachel Keller, Hideaki Itō, Show Kasamatsu, Ella Rumpf, Rinko Kikuchi & Tomohisa Yamashita. Created By: J.T. Rogers.
Tell me why?! Not just why the classic Backstreet Boys masterpiece (and I ain't putting it in quotes, it's true. Don't laugh, Ansel) is actually about, *holds fist firmly* (but that's for another conversation), but why in a show and scene like this. One that has the camaraderie of friends between those who should be foes (a yakuza runner and the journalist working an investigation beat on his organisation and its crimes), as the former taxis the latter around Tokyo with 'Mudbound' like protagonist bonding. Bantering over BSB and N*Sync (imitators...again no quotation marks. Don't jeer me, baby, it's just Justin) and then taking it to the club. Tell me why, it's tearing up your heart like this. Even if there ain't nothing like a heartbreak. I don't want to hear you say J.T Elliott's 'Tokyo Vice' produced by 'Miami Vice's' own Michael Mann with the 'Heat' sequel in paperback 'round the corner is another white saviour stereotype. This 'Outsider' of an eight part wonder, worthy of a miniseries second season is not like the Netflix movie were Jared Leto joins the Yakuza (which is actually a damn, good film. And respectful one too. Without kissing the ring). Nor is it a Netflix 'Giri/Haji' either, switching between the 'Duty' and 'Shame' of Tokyo and London. Not lost in translation, this is more like the Japanese 'Journalist' of fellow Netflix fame under the black rain of all that the sleazy night neon hides in the shadows. But taking it to the Max original for HBO. Or WowWow here in Japan (yeah, I don't need to keep speaking on it, we know where I live now. It's not a brag. I'm just glad), without a maximum Home Box Office...yet (it took a minute for Mickey's Disney +). The same reviews calling this compelling contemporary crime drama whitewashed would be the same who would label a brotherly bond between a weary travelling journalist and a mob member who just wants one last job as toxic, without taking into account dramatic nuance. And the humanity. Besides, holding Tokyo in a vice grip, J.T. and Mann's made police drama gets it right. All the way down to what it's like being a "gaijin" living in Japan. But I will tell you what a white person here has little right to do...complain about racism in this day and age. Just got to keep fighting the good fight. It's not saving the day. Just trying to make it a little bit better. For everyone. God that sounds like savior s###, doesn't it?!
In a time were HBO being unavailable in the Far East is really teasing me (I mean a drama about Tokyo and the Lakers ('Winning Time') released in the same month?! C'mon, c'mon like Joaquin Phoenix) this series is one of the best things on television, springing up this season. All in a post 'Peacemaker' and 'Peaky Blinders' and pre 'Obi-Wan' and 'Ms. Marvel' time were we have the delights of new 'Moon Knight', 'Atlanta' and 'The Rise Of The Lakers' each week. Annnnnnd they've just released all the final episodes of 'Ozark'. Ali Plumb was right. There really is too many shows. What a time to be sat in front of the screen when you should be outside and alive! Better call someone like Saul for all these new episodes that are opening up on us like a 'Russian Doll'. And again, to all those questioning the validity of this series of events. Take a look at the executive producers chair alongside the likes of Mann and star for this vehicle Ansel Elgort. How about Jake Adelstein who Ansel actually plays?! The actual journalist who wrote the memoir 'Tokyo Vice: An American Reporter on the Police Beat in Japan'. This isn't like the Showtime series based on Jeff Pearlman's book thats riling up more Lakers than Pat that the NBA logo Jerry West actually wants to take Adam Mckay and them all the way to the supreme court. And again, in showing us the fleshed out, flesh and blood characters of those fingerless monsters in all the grey areas of their tattoos makes this show one not of stereotype, but of humanity. Even those who do the inhumane. If you're not crying on one rooftop view then you might want to check if you're the actual definition of a "gaijin". From the moment the inked artwork of this show's theme spills out all the elements of storytelling in clues before you. You'll be hooked and twisted and turned like a spider diagram into your own investigation of all this like the cops and reporters. This vice just won't let you go. It keeps a firm hold like a finger wrapped in white bandage.
Dark, dangerous, but still illuminating like crossing Shibuya at night. 'Tokyo Vice' will go down as one of the best mob hits in Hollywood meets Japanese cinematic history. Like the time Michael Douglas and Andy Garcia teamed up with late legend Ken Takakura (we're still moved by his reaction to receiving those shirts off Douglas, BEFORE he realised what was under them) for Ridley Scott in 80's Osaka, like a running man. This time it's 'Baby Driver' Ansel Elgort fresh off a 'West Side Story' reinvention allying with 'The Last Samurai' and 'Inception' star Ken Watanabe, no stranger himself to controversy in his own country. But the amazing acting the 'Batman Begins', 'Godzilla', 'Letters From Iwo Jima' and 'Fukushima 50' legend on two continents saves for the final moments of the final episode will have you on your hands and knees for another season. Meanwhile, the energy of Elgort extends beyond his beautiful gesture of learning the language inside and out, that translates to a press conference tour even more impressive than 'Last Samurai' Tom Cruise, whose one introduced regular actors Watanabe and Hiroyuki Sanada ('Mortal Kombat' and biting the dust in TWO separate Marvel universes in this 'Multiverse Of Madness') to the Hollywood world. Still, this series isn't just about him. Especially with the 'Legion' of talent Rachel Keller brings to proceedings. Getting in to deep to this underworld with 'Tiger Girl' Ella Rumpf in this year of one and singer, actor and TV host Tomohisa Yamashita's absolutely abhorrent character. But amongst Hideaki Itō's crooked cop looking to shape up and Murakami's' Norwegian Wood' and 'Pacific Rim' standout Rinko Kikuchi giving a name to all these victims buried in her newspapers margins, it's a relatively new actor that lifts everything from this all star cast of famous faces and valued veterans. Show Kasamatsu steals his first name with slicked back Yak' stylings, but a beating heart under all that bloodshed of a lost soul looking for more. Walking the precariously thin line between cooking a romantic midnight snack with delicacy. Shirtless and baring all the arms of his gangsterdom devotion. Or refusing to hit, whilst trying to get out the ones that can, whilst the going is still good. Even killing in the name of love. There's blood on his hands, but it's in a shade of Valentines. And that may seem funny, but when that smile cracks beneath a steely exterior that cracks its neckbone after cracking a classic "If I told you, I'd have to kill you" joke, you can see his heart. It's not just charm, charisma matching with Elgort, in-sync like BSB. This guys no imitator, creating his own masterpiece. He's the Japanese star of the future with more movies this year than the moves he makes in this show. About to be as famous as Tokyo. Now here's one vice we hope they pick up again. TIM DAVID HARVEY.
Further Filming: 'The Outsider', 'The Journalist', 'Black Rain'.
No comments:
Post a Comment