I'm a big fan of Yakuza action flicks. Somehow this one was right under my nose yet I never got up the energy to get my hands on it. I can't imagine why. It's called the Yakuza, after all. Not exactly subtle.

It's not Japanese but it's supposed to be a classic. It's got a couple of big names attached to it. Martin Scorsese was actually supposed to direct it after Mean Streets but the studio went with Sydney Pollack instead. I'd say the most noteworthy name attached would be Paul Schrader, writer of Scorsese's classic Taxi Driver. This would be his first produced script, which he cowrote with brother Leonard.

Anyway, in the Yakuza, Harry Kilmer (Robert Mitchum) travels to Japan to rescue his daughter who has been kidnapped by the Yakuza. To help him go up against the Yakuza with a fighting chance, Kilmer teams up with Ken Tanaka (Ken Takakura), a former Japanese swordsman with firm beliefs in the old ways of Japan. As the film progresses, Kilmer discovers that he and Ken are connected by a secret his Japanese friend has kept before they even met.

If you don't know already, the Yakuza is the Japanese mafia.

Perhaps I went into watching this film being a little naive. I guess I was expecting this to be something action-packed. On the contrary, this was actually pretty talky. The writers researched the Yakuza up the ying yang. When there's not character drama going on, they're basically shoving facts in your face. I guess they want to show people how much they slaved away on this thing. This isn't a bad thing, exactly, but I have to admit, the film had me craving for action about half the time.

And there's action alright. More than the earlier scenes would have me believe. It's loud, it's bloody, and it comes when you least expect it. There's some gripping sword fights here and there and shootouts that are quite literally all over the place. There's also a great assassination attempt in a pool that was pretty cool. It's sparse but if you want action, the Yakuza's got it. It comes in small doses but when it comes around, it explodes.

Nevertheless, I wasn't entirely satisfied with this film. It's not just that it was talky. I wasn't really digging the characters. Ken was the exception. He really stood out strong. His character was a guy who really stuck to his guns and went his own way. I thought he was really someone you could root for. Yet he wasn't supposed to be the leading man. Kilmer was and I just didn't buy it. He was supposed to be an action hero, a cowboy of sorts, as well as a cultured guy who knew Japan but Mitchen wasn't really able to be either. During the action scenes, he seemed out of place and when he spoke in Japanese, it felt like he was reading the lines off cue cards. He also kept the same expression on his face just about the entire film. The acting wasn't bad exactly but this guy seemed better suited for a film-noir than something like this. The other characters were dull. I didn't really care about any of them.

All in all, the Yakuza had stuff that was cool and stuff that dragged. When it was cool, it was really cool, and when it dragged, well, it dragged. It was a good film but not a great one. Nice shot by the Americans to make a Yakuza flick (way better than Johnny Mnemonic, that's for sure) but give me something by Miike or Kitano any day.

Finally, a remake for this film is slated for a 2007 release. Keep your eyes open.