Tetsuo: The Bullet Man (2009)

Tetsuo: The Bullet Man: Directed by Shin’ya Tsukamoto. With Eric Bossick, Akiko Monô, Yûko Nakamura, Stephen Sarrazin. Losing his son Tom in a hit and run triggers violent emotions in Anthony, whose body begins to transform. When the driver who killed Tom reappears, Anthony mutates into a mass of metal – a human weapon fuelled by an uncontrollable rage.

“Similar to the first two movies, Bullet Man is an alternate retelling of the same story. (avoiding spoilers) The protagonist is alienated in the big city, and u0026quot;somethingu0026quot; triggers a mechanical mutation which results into a physical transformation. Plotwise its what youu0026#39;d expect in a Tetsuo-film.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eBullet Man is certainly among Tsukamotou0026#39;s most experimental films, but in a completely different way, due to its casting decisions, and the bold choice of shooting the dialog entirely in English(with few exceptions), unlike Takashi Miikeu0026#39;s Sukiyaki Western Django, the dialog in this movie is in fact comprehensible. Its very obvious that Tsukamoto was aiming for a broader audience, but it didnu0026#39;t work quite as well. u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eI must admit that I was skeptical to Bossick in the lead role, but he is actually very well casted, his character is different from Taguchi, but still similar, he is a bit more stable, but furious at the same time. u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eAkiko Monou as Bossicku0026#39;s wife on the other hand doesnu0026#39;t work that well, its a dull performance mostly because of her dialog being in English. The chemistry between the two leads isnu0026#39;t present either, but this gets better as the film progresses, and then there is good old Shinya Tsukamoto as u0026quot; The Guy u0026quot; youu0026#39;d be disappointed that he doesnu0026#39;t reprise his role as the metal fetishist, but he still play a pretty bad-ass character, and its a great performance.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe digital look of the film is not working in its favor at all, yet there are lots of trademark shots from the previous films, like the close ups of machinery etc, and Chu Ishikawau0026#39;s industrial theme, are all present, and its shot in the same frenetic manner, but the gritty, and raw 16mm look is absent.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe Bullet Man, seems more like an American remake of the first film, it has this mainstream feel to it, and doesnu0026#39;t rely that much on symbolism and metaphors, like the first two films. Another big letdown is, this time there is no mutated counterpart for protagonist to fight, instead we have a bunch of army guys. u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eI would still recommend this to all Tsukamoto fans. Itu0026#39;s different, and not among his best, but that doesnu0026#39;t necessarily mean that its bad. Check it out. 6/10”