Writer/ Director Takeshi Kitano returns to Japanese underworld with this juvenile Yakuza outing that replaces the brutality of his earlier work (Zatoichi, Brother, Sonatine) with blithe and bungled comedy. After opening with a colourful credit sequence, tiny sized letters exploding on a black backdrop, we are introduced to Ryuzo (Tatsuya Fuji): a doddery ex-Yakuza turned sword-brandishing pensioner, in the heat of a misconstrued squabble.
Ryuzo is plastered with tattoos, missing a few fingers from work-place injuries and struggling to disengage from the old yakuza mind-set. While living with his son’s family, Ryuzo finds himself becoming more of a liability and is eventually asked to move out, after throwing a party in the family’s absence and eating their pet Finches. With nowhere left to go, Ryuzo links with some old Yakuza buddies and sets up a new syndicate but finds adapting to contemporary criminal ways to be tiring.
Kitano’s latest foray into the Japanese crime-scene opens with ferocious, quick-fire gags in an effectively crafted set-up. Characters and goals are established and a plot point perfectly placed for an intro that doesn’t feel stifled by structural adherence. Watching Ryuzo adjust to the world outside of his family home while reuniting with old friends is both witty, uplifting and sets up what promises to be a zany and poignant feature. But the old man yakuza jokes swiftly wear thin and RAHSH evaporates into a series of saggy set-pieces that fail to unify for a cohesive whole.
Inane toilet humour and cross dressing gags are interloped as RAHSH starts feeling like a bad US remake of the film it showed potential of becoming. Fart jokes may have worked many moons ago (Blazing Saddles is the only good example that springs to mind) but when emitted in such an airless and flagrant abundance they serve as stifled transparent misfires. While the initial sight of Ryuzo in a pink nylon dress may rustle a snigger, the ultimate lack of depth and development, combined with the scattershot telling, makes RAHSH a rushed and clumsy affair.
The characters are hollow despite their vibrant veneers while exaggerated performances attempt to distract from the lack of emotional substance. Fuji is fun as Ryuzo but the rest of the cast are on autopilot. Kitano is particularly distant in the role of dead-eyed cop Murakami. The corroded Yakuza geezers all have their moments but spend most of their time looking for a much better film to be a part of. For RAHSH is a fun but scuffled outing that sets off well but gets totally lost before crumbling under the flaky performances, clumsy production and a lack of legitimate heart.
