I've seen reviews that talked about having to turn this film off every 20 min to catch their breath, how it's gag inducing, or the hardest film they ever watched. I ate dinner while watching this. It is not a cinematic masterpiece. It's simplistic, dumb, and show almost none of the violence people talk about. The most violent thing in the film is a girl that accidently gets her throat cut and bleeds out. I have seen films way more violent than this. For crying out loud kill bill is more violent. 99% of the violence in this film is simply implied or all you see is a bit of the aftermath. What is the big freaking deal with this film. There is nothing overly deep here. I expected way more than a guy with 2in blades in his shoes somehow slicing people in half. The film isn't the stylistic masterpiece it's made out to be. If this is a 7 on style scale then Crank is an 11 it has infinitely more stlye the story is just as bad. The hype around this film is dumb.

There are some Miike films I love (Audition—brilliant!, Dead or Alive—wild!, Fudoh—so messed up!). There are some Miike films I hate (Gozu, Dead or Alive 2—both boring). And then there are those Miike films that are so eccentric, both thematically and in their execution, that I find it hard to decide exactly how I feel about them. Ichi the Killer falls into this last category: based on a manga comic, it features all of the Miike trademarks that I usually enjoy—crazy characters, daring camera-work, erratic editing, and lots of extreme gore—but the storytelling is so off-kilter that I was left reeling in confusion, and feeling just a little bit disappointed.The basic plot goes something like this… After a Yakuza boss is sliced up by a mysterious killer, slit-mouthed gang member Kakihara (Tadanobu Asano) vows to find the man responsible—a psychotic loner called Ichi, who can only achieve orgasm while watching or committing acts of extreme violence (he's so pathetic that his photo doesn't even make it on to the DVD cover). Kakihara, an extreme sadomasochist, becomes obsessed with the idea of Ichi being the ultimate giver of pain, but when he comes face to face with the man, he finds that the reality doesn't live up to his expectations.That's the general gist of the film, but there's so much more that I cannot adequately explain thanks to Miike's non-conformist approach which makes the narrative so difficult to comprehend. Suffice to say that the film is consistently bonkers— a demented tale of revenge and obsession drenched in bodily fluids (some of which is real, according to the director. Yuck!). Weird/outrageous highlights include several really messy throat slashings (arterial spray galore!), a man cut in half and another guy's severed face sliding down a wall (both achieved via some iffy CGI), a 'human bloodhound' who can locate a man by sniffing a woman's crotch, lots of sadomasochistic violence, and a smidge of eye-watering nipple slicing. Reasonably fun, I suppose, but I wish it was less of a struggle for me to follow.5.5/10, rounded up to 6 for IMDb.

Most people that watch this will group it among other two-bit slasher and shock films, which is a tragedy. Beyond the gratuitous violence (which is more cartoony than horrific) is an examination of the human condition, or more specifically, the extreme hedonist condition. That much is obvious, but the interest lies in the contrast of Ichi and Kakihara not with each other but with Jijii. His motive in all of this, in manipulating Ichi and obsessing with Kakihara, is revealed during the climax: upon finding Kakihara's body his face twists into a sort of butchery of sadness and happiness. It took me years to realize that in truth he does not feel both but neither; he is nothing, and his obsession with the two men that go to such extremes to feel alive results of his own desperate attempts to be; to learn to be. With both men gone he is left without an escape from his suffocating nothingness and hangs himself. In sum we are given a triad: the sadist, the masochist, and the nihilist. Ichi and Kakihara's existences may have seemed hellish and undesirable, the movie proposes, but Jijii's is far worse.

Takashi Miike is never far from the centre of controversy. "Audition" (1999), is a fantastic movie and one of the best horror movies Japan has to offer. It's only nature that Miike would return to his roots with the yakuza genre sooner or later, but who knew it would be this intense?Based on Hideo Yamamoto's manga series. "Ichi The Killer" tells the story of rival yakuza gangs and the involvement of a scarred and psychologically damaged man, Ichi, who is manipulated into assaulting or killing rival faction members. Leading to sadomasochistic yakuza enforcer Kakihara, to eagerly await a final showdown with this supposed "dangerous" individual.Without really spoiling anything, the title credits set the tone for this movie by literally appearing in Ichi's ejaculation. So there clearly is a level of taste in this film that may or may not be for you, the film is outright banned in several locations because of this. I've seen it once and its shock value does overwhelm its pacing in many areas, with the final 40 minutes becoming much clearer when following the narrative. Music-wise the soundtrack is pretty great and either way the movie is a mess in terms of gore and story telling, yet there is something surprisingly engrossing where certain events take you. Maybe I missed a lot the first time viewing and it runs a little too long for its own good, but I really found myself enjoying it and inevitably eager to see it again.Final Verdict: In essence, "Ichi The Killer" is pretty forgetful when considering Takashi's other works. But if you're a fan of his then I highly recommend it. 7/10.