This is Ryuhei Kitamura's (director of "Versus") first theatrically released film. Overall, I felt it was a dissapointing film by a talented director. It runs too short at about an hour, we don't get to know any of the characters long enough to even care what happens to them.
The action is a mixed bag, some scenes are quite intense, while others are just plain stupid (the cop fighting one of the bad guys). We really don't get explanation for the main villain's actions, he just does what he does and acts like his head hurts.
The music is good at first, but it quickly becomes annoying and I considered hitting the mute button and just reading the subtitles. Not only that, but Kitamurai is too infatuated with over-the-top gun sounds. Every time someone waves a gun or picks one up, we're met with a series of "click-clack-chick-click" noises.
While, it's not horrible to sit through, I doubt I would ever watch "Heat After Dark" again if given the choice. It does have a bit of the style found in Kitamura's infinitely superior "Versus", but overall it's just an undeveloped director's first gig, and plays as such.
4/10
The action is a mixed bag, some scenes are quite intense, while others are just plain stupid (the cop fighting one of the bad guys). We really don't get explanation for the main villain's actions, he just does what he does and acts like his head hurts.
The music is good at first, but it quickly becomes annoying and I considered hitting the mute button and just reading the subtitles. Not only that, but Kitamurai is too infatuated with over-the-top gun sounds. Every time someone waves a gun or picks one up, we're met with a series of "click-clack-chick-click" noises.
While, it's not horrible to sit through, I doubt I would ever watch "Heat After Dark" again if given the choice. It does have a bit of the style found in Kitamura's infinitely superior "Versus", but overall it's just an undeveloped director's first gig, and plays as such.
4/10