Tokyo Zombie, at first glance, looks like it could be one hell of a kick-ass zombie flick with all the over the top gore only the Japanese could hot muster up. That must be the case, right? Tadanobu Asano from Ichii The Killer is the star of Tokyo Zombie! You know, the guy who cuts of his own tongue off and hangs people on hooks pretty much for fun? Hell yeah! It is time to put the movie in, sit back and be grossed out or pass out, whatever comes first from this gore fest! Well maybe not, after you press play you may say something like.....WTF is this? Why is Tadanobu Asano wearing a stupid afro wig?
Tokyo Zombie, adapted from a Japanese manga of the same name, is a comedy about a man named Fujio whose only real dream is to become a jujitsu champion. After inadvertantly killing their boss, Fujio and teacher/friend Mitsuo (Sho Aikawa) decide to get rid of the body by dumping it in a massive garbage mountain named Black Fuji in the middle of town. It's no big surprise that right after they bury the body, zombies start coming up from the ground. Let the jokes, slap stick, physical (almost cartoon) humor begin. Before they can even get off Mt. Black Fuji, a child molester gets his junk bitten off by a zombie and an old man looks up a dead school girls dress only to then get eaten. Those crazy Japanese with their funny, funny, pervy humor. So now you know what your getting yourself into, It's basically Shaun of the Dead, Japanese style.
Half-way into the movie, there's a real surprise. They change the movie all-together. It is like someone dropped two scripts and got them mixed up together. Next thing you know - POOF - it's five years later and zombies have taken over the city. A wall has been built, the rich live inside the walls in luxury, and the poor live as slave laborers. Have I seen that before? It sounds kinda familiar.
Anyway, Fujio finally gets to live his dream and proves he has mad jujitsu skills in the only sport left, Zombie Fights. Man against zombie in a fight to the death (or deader in the zombies' case)! I know, I know…That almost sounds cool. It’s not. The zombie fight pit looks like a warehouse lined with silver bed sheets for God's sake!
Even with the major plot change, Tokyo Zombie's jokes are still dumb. The movie tries to be funny but that prevy, slapsticky Japanese humor gets lost in translation when it makes its way to the West, and simply can't compete with our sophisticated fart humor. Sometimes it's not enough to say "hey one guy has an afro and the other guy is bald! Isn't that hilarious!" Sorry, not really.
Don't get me wrong, Tokyo Zombie is not a total waste of time. It has some (almost) funny scenes, Some actual funny, guy-bonding, shit talk, some gore (kinda), but, most of all, proves without a doubt if you didn't know already, those Japanese can be really weird. So, If you are looking for a Japanese zombie gore fest, Tokyo Zombie may not be what you were hoping for. If you're looking for an almost funny (not really a knee slapper), kinda strange comedy, you're in like Flynn.