cwbellor Tokyo Tribe gives you extravagant and ambitious set pieces, a cast of hundreds with almost as many speaking parts and rap ...so ...so much ...rap. And therein lies the most glaring flaw of this film. No, there's nothing wrong with rap. There IS something wrong with a plot taking a backseat so that rap and posturing can be front and center again and again and again. And just when you think you might get some substantial dialogue... more rap. Mind you, the rap is good and there are some worthy artists being showcased here. Cyborg Kaori is one of the amusing highlights - she seems to be playing some kind of court jester for the cannibal gangster - but she is overshadowed. She's drowned out by characters like the blonde Mera, who could be subversive and cool, but end up being monotonous and predictable. I was completely ready to enjoy Tokyo Tribe. On Netflix, it appears to be a fun, action-filled homage to films like The Warriors. But I knew within the first ten minutes that watching this was going to be a test of patience. In a way, it's the perfect Japanese film. It's a sensory overload of colors and images and the wandering camera is reminiscent of a tourist who can't decide what to pay attention to. It reflects little of Japanese reality - gangs are born out of economic hardship and strife. The strife in contemporary Tokyo is existential, not economic. But this film is knowingly fantasy and while it's easy to roll your eyes at middle class kids trying to be thugs, you can't actually accuse the film of being dishonest. For the first half hour, you feel like you're viewing an introductory segment. If you're half an hour into the film and you're still not sure who the protagonist is, you're watching an incredibly flawed movie. An hour into this story, you'll find yourself hungry for something of substance. Instead, you have to endure more stylized over-the-top performances and yet more introductions of new characters. It's a lot of time wasted on creative tangents, when that time could have been dedicated to the central characters. It's not hard to be emotionally invested in characters like Kai. But it takes almost forty minutes for him to be front and center. By that time, half the people watching this would have been completely justified in tuning into something else.

Jack Kin I love how the Japanese are not afraid of the human body and nature and moved forward while back in America retarded corporation bans leggings!!! This is by far the best Japanese movie and possibly the best Sono movie to date. It is up there and it deserves to be. Everything paid off in this film and I don't even like rap. It is emotional. It is explosive. It has heart. It is sexy. This is everything anyone who is young or young at heart has wanted in a futuristic film. By the end you will feel like humanity has progressed and it becomes hard to say goodbye. Don't get me wrong it is dystopian, but has a happy ending. The final scene in this movie was one of the most powerful scenes and that and the beautiful flaunting add up to a masterpiece and the fact that human haters are angered make it perfect

Red-Barracuda Well, what can I say? That was something a bit different! If I had known in advance that what I was about to watch was a Japanese hip-hop musical about warring gangs in an alternate Tokyo, I suspect at least a few alarm bells might have gone off. The idea is so wilfully absurd that the movie could easily fall into car crash territory. But you are probably thinking that there is a 'however' coming up here and you would indeed be correct, as in the event Tokyo Tribe proved to be a properly exhilarating movie experience. The originality on display was pretty mind-boggling not just in terms of basic idea but also in execution. There is a story but I realised pretty early on that paying full attention to it was not really a primary requirement. Needless to say, I can't actually be bothered summarising the plot synopsis. What this one is resolutely all about is style over substance. For some viewers that is a cinematic crime but I personally think that we get a little too much 'substance' and not anywhere near enough genuine style in our modern movies. Tokyo Tribe is an example of a film that is great, great style and is pure cinema from start to finish.Seemingly it was based on a manga comic, which isn't exactly surprising given the sheer insanity that unfolds on the screen. It has an extremely colourful aesthetic with great sets and costuming. The look is constantly interesting and surprising, a fantastic spectacle overall. But this crazy film also has most of its dialogue rapped as well. I hadn't even been aware of Japanese hip-hop before this so it was an education I can tell you. The style of filming with lots of long takes was somewhat similar to the style that many rap music videos adopted, so this is another disparate element mixed into the overall concoction. So what do we have here? Well, we have martial arts fighting (although not so much so that it gets overbearing), some good old fashioned sexploitation elements, a beat-boxing maid, a Mr Big gangster with an ever-present dildo, human furniture, a tank driving Samurai, a super-strong black henchman, (very) cute Japanese women of various shapes and sizes, some men with misguided hair-cuts, a wheel of death, a depressed youth in a hoodie who pitches up every so often like a Greek Chorus, comic-book violence and bling weaponry. There is even more going on than this as well but that's the best I can do for now. On the whole, this is a highly entertaining action-comedy-musical with a real energy and originality. This really does define the term one of a kind!

kosmasp Actually watching this I can't imagine anyone being serious ... I was surprised at how much "Rap" was in it (even though some of the actors actually weren't that good with their MC skills) - you can and should call this a musical. Obviously, if rap music isn't your thing, you should not even think about watching this.Anyone else open to a mad world, go ahead and have fun. And you can have fun. There are so many crazy and wicked ideas in this, you'll have quite a lot to talk about with friends or generally on the internet. There were a couple of moments that seemed unnecessary (misogynistic), but other than that, this is really just a fun little movie, that almost made me stand up at the end singing along - Tokyo Tribe