Versus (2000)

Movie Rating R Contains: Strong Language Violence Graphic Violence Gore

Director: Ryuhei Kitamura Movie Genre: Action, Zombie Country: Japan Versus Score Card The following scores are based on a 0.0 to 10.0 rating scale Hover your mouse pointer over the name of each scoring category below for a description Direction: 7.0 Writing: 6.0 Acting: 6.0 Cinematography: 6.5 Sound and Score: 5.0 Functionality: 8.0 Presentation: 7.0 Genre Comparison: 8.0 General Comparison: 6.0 Overall: 6.6 Reviewed 2006-03-27 20:59:20

Versus, from Japanese director, Ryuhei Kitamura is about an escaped prisoner caught in an epic battle of good versus evil that will determine the fate of the world. Tak Sakaguchi plays Prisoner KSC2-303, who, after being sprung by a group of gangsters, is taken to a remote forest somewhere in the mountains of Japan. His rescuers soon turn on him and his cellmate when they force them to wait until their boss arrives. The two escaped convicts and the group of gangsters begin to argue about a young woman who was also kidnapped and a gunfight ensues. After this gunfight, all parties involved soon realize that when someone dies in this forest their corpse is reanimated and they become a zombie. They quickly realize that the forest in question is, The Forest of Resurrection, the site of one of the 666 portals that connects our world to the spirit world. These circumstances make this place the site of a constant battle for control of the portal.

In this movie, Kitamura focused solely on the bare essentials. He chose to use only one set for the majority of the movie. In addition to keeping the budget lower, the use of a single set keeps the audience immersed in the heart of the action. Also there is a fairly small cast with few extras. This helps establish that the battle taking place is universal. The only things that change throughout history are the names of the parties involved.

The high point of this movie is the amazing fight scenes arranged by action director, Yuji Shimomura. The stylized camerawork used during these fight scenes does an excellent job of fueling the audience's excitement. The fights focus more on visual appeal than on the accuracy of the techniques. This movie's plot seems to have been written solely as a method of tying these wonderful fight scenes together.

Versus gave Kitamura worldwide recognition, and showed that he has great potential as a filmmaker as well as a keen sense of style. Unfortunately, this movie has much more flair and panache than actual substance. While escaped convicts fighting gangster zombies makes for an enjoyable experience, there isn't enough substance to make this movie worth watching more than once.