Popular reviews

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  Review by Rafael "Parker!!" Jovine ★★★½ 2

  Action! - The Way of the Yakuza: Suzuki's Irreverent, Jarring and Illogical Brand

  Suzuki returns to action and color with a pretty amusing detective comedy starring a delightful Joe Shishido as the somewhat brooding, very loose, snarky, and bold detective Tajima, who must infiltrate the yakuza underworld to track down stolen firearms before a grudge between some gangs turns into a bloodbath.

  The director's trademark vivid use of color is on full display here, and it permeates every aspect of the film, from the set design to the costumes to the characters themselves, most notably our leading man, who wears and rocks a very unique hairstyle that somewhat sets him apart from the crowd. Much of the film's humor stems…

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  Review by Sean Baker 7

  Watched the Arrow Video Blu-ray

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  Review by sakana1 ★★★½ 5

  Before it is anything else — indeed, it might not actually be anything else at all — Detective Bureau 2-3: Go to Hell, Bastards! is a visual feast. Contrasting location shots of a vibrant Tokyo that nearly grows as we look at it — a Tokyo full of sports cars, rampant crime, and thriving industry — with carefully constructed, resolutely monochrome gray interiors, director Seijun Suzuki delights in the freedom provided by his nonsensical yakuza story. Rather than paying any attention whatsoever to the narrative, Suzuki instead focuses on the men's red ties, and the dresses of the women that provide dynamic splashes of color to the drab worlds in which the men work and play.

  In some ways, the…

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  Review by Gentry ★★★ 2

  “I didn’t deserve that slap so I gave it back to you.”

  I put this off for the longest time because I thought the “2-3” in the title was a reference to this being the second and third entry in a series when in fact it's actually just the office number for the private detective agency. 🤦‍♂️

  A very good movie that unfortunately hints at an even better movie made up entirely of Jō Shishido singing and dancing. Still, we have two of Nikkatsu's greatest faces from the era (Shishido and Tamio Kawachi), Jō drives a cool car, Reiko Sasamori is the classic “virgin with the heart of a prostitute,” there are truck loads of yakuza guys, and it’s a Christmas film.

  Merry Xmas. Drink Pepsi. 

  “The world will be a better place with less yakuza.”

  ➡️ No Money, No Sense: Seijun Suzuki Ranked

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  Review by Scumbalina ★★★★★

  I know that this is one of Suzuki's more structured films but within this big budget Nikkatsu produced gem is a highly saturated example of just how brilliant and gonzo he can be while still illustrating some restraint. Perfectly choreographed and photographically flawless. I have a huge weakness for club scenes in 60's Japanese films and in this film we're treated to not one but three amazing little club sequences. Japanese gangster pop art at it's finest.

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  Review by ScreeningNotes ★★★

  Exploiting misplaced trust and the thin facade of the law

  As the great R. J. MacReady once said, "Trust's a tough thing to come by these days," and "Nobody trusts anybody now, and we're all very tired." But that happened in Antarctica; with the hilariously named Detective Bureau 2-3: Go to Hell, Bastards!, Seijun Suzuki asks the question (through the voice of a news reporter in the film), "Can this happen in Japan?" And no, the film isn't about an extraterrestrial invader capable of assimilating and imitating human appearance and behavior — the reporter who asks the question is referring to a public standoff between the police and the yakuza — but the theme is just as relevant.

  Warring crime…

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  Review by matt lynch ★★★½ 2

  Suzuki should have made a JUDEX movie.

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  Review by ELECTRICWIZARDx ★★★½

  Hamster cheeks full of crime. P.I. Tajima worms his way into infiltrating a Yakuza gang for the police in order to further his career.

  I haven't delved as far into Suzuki's work as I should have, but from the bits I've seen and what I've read this one is a lot more straight shooting and linear than most of his other films. That doesn't make it any worse or less stylish. The camera captures the style dripping from the red light soaked walls, accented by an ultracool soundtrack of 60s bangers. The action plays are suave, especially the scene where the police run in behind a truck smashing through a huge wooden door. Choreography at its finest.

  The plot is…

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  Review by Casey ★★★½ 4

  My 1,000th "review" on Letterboxd!

  This is the third Tokyo gangster flick I've seen from Seijun Suzuki, and while it never quite reaches the strange coolness of something like Branded to Kill, this one is totally fun, starting with a gang war setpiece early on that involves about a dozen vehicles packed with ten gangsters each. The colors are poppin, the music is poppin, the clothes are poppin, Jo Shishido is always poppin. Wicked shootouts and a few flapper musical numbers. Some comedic moments to keep things light.

  Suzuki was full of style. Glad to see a collection of his stuff on the Criterion Channel this month.

  Thanks for reading!

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  Review by Filipe Furtado ★★★½ 1

  Seijun Suzuki sending off Japanese society with all the anger expected from a film subtitled “Go to Hell, Bastards!”. Some of his sharpest editing.

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  Review by Grant McLanaghan ★★★½

  An outlandish cops versus yakuza flick in which private detective Tajima (Joe Shishido) infiltrates a criminal organisation – manoeuvring it into such a position that allows the police to fill its jails with its murderous ranks.

  Detective Bureau 2-3 is fast-paced and eccentric – and features some entertaining musical sequences, one of which Shishido throws himself into with gay abandon. And though Tajima’s up against suspicious, dangerous foes, we know he’ll prevail. I mean, he drives a white MG convertible, he’s well-tailored, he’s handy with his fists and the girls love him – how could he not succeed?

  I’m not sure about his approach to wooing the ladies, however. At one point he punches a young woman, Chiaki (Reiko Sasamori)…

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  Review by Zoë 🐝

  I've wholeheartedly enjoyed the other two Seijun Suzuki films I've seen, Branded to Kill and Tokyo Drifter (which are two of his most well known films internationally) for their maniacal energy and utter absurdity combined with gorgeous and appropriately frenetic visuals. I expected similarly from Detective Bureau 2-3: Go to Hell, Bastards! based on the incredible title alone, but this is much more Bond-esque than his other films, which do take their inspiration from the heavily saturated spy genre of the 1960s, but have their own unique spin that only Suzuki and his frequent lead actor Jō Shishido could bring. Detective Bureau has its moments, like when Shishido (who is as enjoyable as ever as an undercover detective) randomly starts singing a duet in a club with the chanteuse, but the outlandishness I was hoping for wasn't nearly as present as when Suzuki is working at his full powers.