Tokyo Gore Police - Movie Review

If you are a fan of ridiculous, over-the-top gore films, you will love this film. If you are not big on gore (hint: the word is in the title of this film) find something else. Tokyo Gore Police was generally well-received by critics. The bizarre film was written, directed and edited by Yoshihiro Nishimura, who has a host of other credits to his name, to include Meatball Machine and the 2017 sequel Meatball Machine Kodoku.

Images from this film may be graphic
Ruka (Eiha Shiina) is a Tokyo Police Officer (a privatized company). Her father was also a police officer, killed while attempting to fight the movement to privatize the police force. Ruka was raised by the local station chief (Yukihide Benny). Engineers are genetically mutated people who create body-part-weapons that replace limbs severed in battle. To stop an engineer, you must separate their body from the tumor-key that has been implanted inside their body. Ruka is deft at stopping engineers.

Aside from battling engineers, Ruka is also battling her own inner demons. She is troubled by memories of her mother's attempted suicide and her father's murder. As Ruka engages the engineers, she draws closer to the "key-man" (Itsuji Itao), the mad scientist who is creating the engineers. She is also drawing closer to realizing the truth about the murder of her father. The process is slow and tedious, and manages to leave a trail of severed flesh and spurting blood in its wake.

I think the special effects crew got a bunch of hoses on sale at Home Depot. I think they also must have found a good deal on red gelatin. The severed bodies spout blood at an physically impossible rate. It is overdone on purpose, to create a campy humorous effect. However, it gets old quick. The violence is severe, but mildly creative. Who would think of legs that form an alligators head or eyeballs that shoot brain matter? This film even has a killer (male member). Yikes. Creative, but overdone.

The story isn't meant to be stellar. It is the vehicle for perpetrating the violence. The characters are flat and predictable. The pacing is also slow at times. This film weighs in at close to two hours. They could have trimmed fifteen minutes and not missed much. The action is also hard to follow at times, with distracting pretend commercials and sloppy cuts. The uneven transitions drove me nuts.

The acting is another area that wasn't intended to leave you giddy. Shiina is okay. She's cute. In a film that lacks any attempt at achieving credibility, the actors are left to simply go through the motions. As such, Shiina held up her end of the bargain. Itao and Benny were okay, too. I guess I might judge the performances on the choreographed martial arts scenes, too. Those were seamless. The fight scenes (minus the ridiculous gore) were probably the highlight of the film.

I watched an unrated version of Tokyo Gore Police, which would easily earn an R from the MPAA on violence alone. It is at the top of the charts when it comes to gore. It's right in the title. Aside from the violence and gore, the film has plenty of sexuality and adult themes. While the nudity is kept to a minimum, the sexual aspect of the film is prevalent throughout. It is not a film for underage viewers. Mid-teens and above should be fine.

Tokyo Gore Police was almost tolerable. I grew tired of the gore and the pacing was off at times. The film also had distracting elements and choppy transitions that made things hard to follow. The plot is simple, the characters flat, the acting marginal. In total, the film was not my cup of tea. While fans of this genre will see this work as brilliant, I found it trying. If you are a fan of the genre, I would suggest you give it a try. I'm not a fan. 4/10.