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VERSUS
(2000)
Reviewed
by Phil Mills
On
Earth there are 666 portals between this world and the next.
The 444th exists in Japan and lies deep within the
"forest of resurrection", so-called because it
allows a dead person's soul to be dragged back into his body
to restore life (well, physically at least). When two
escaped convicts use this mythical place as refuge from the
police and local gangsters, all havoc breaks lose as the
bodies start rising from the ground for a second helping of
bullets.
It's
so hard to know where to begin to complement 'Versus'
considering it contains so many pleasing elements for action
fans like myself. It's not like we haven't seen horror
and Martial Arts blended together in a film before ('Blade'
instantly springs to mind) but rarely have the merging of two
such opposite genres been so expertly crafted.
Firstly,
the directorial style is extremely impressive, especially when
you consider that director Kitamura had such a restricted
budget to work with. The best comparison I can think of
is with the original 'Evil Dead' film in both style and
atmosphere. The horror elements display a similar
humourous yet gory approach to that seen in 'Evil Dead' and
the film also utilises the same handheld camera effects that
give the viewer a more voyeuristic feel on certain scenes, as
if you are spying rather than just watching.
Interestingly enough Kitamura also chooses to switch the
camera to various coloured lenses to highlight some of the
more tense scenes which provides a refreshingly artistic slant
on a film in this genre.
What
really makes 'Versus' though is the immense amount of action
that includes guns, swords and hand-to-hand combat, all of
which borrow heavily from the Hong Kong movie scene. The
gunplay is clearly John Woo inspired with slow motion
enhancing the action whilst the Martial Arts and swordplay
incorporate the familiar over-the-top acrobatics and intricate
choreography that we all know and love. However, this
quality does come at a price and that comes in the form of the
all too familiar choppy editing techniques. Certain
sequences take the Hollywood route and cut the action just
when an exciting move is being executed but luckily it is in
the minority and is still a far cry from being as bad as some
of it's US counterparts.
Overall,
'Versus' is an outstanding effort from start to finish with
guns, guts and glorious kung fu delivered in a single, stylish
package. Please take note Hollywood and Hong Kong, this
is the kind of action film that you should be making!
Rating:
 
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