Brimming with a seizure inducing, black and white style, Electric Dragon 80000v is a 55 minute piece of purely visceral cinema all for the sake of punk-rock flavored fun. Sogo Ishii takes a simple, entertaining premise about two distinctive opposite personalities— “Dragon Eye” Morrison played by Tadanobu Asano and Thunderbolt Buddha played by Masatoshi Nagase— tied together by their similar childhood experiences that gave them control over electricity. Apparently, there can only be one reigning king of eliectricity, and the film sets ups an intense conflict that can only be solved by the inevitable showdown between the highly aggressive ex-boxer-turned lizard detective Morrison, and the calm, schizophrenic, half-encased in metal, Thunderbolt.
Ishii chooses style over substance and overloads his film with a frenzied camera, fittingly distorted punk rock and jumping, flashing words across the screen to make this film the essence of energy. Despite a trim 55 minute running time, Ishii does not fill out his idea well and the film runs on far too long with an occasionally slow middle act and a little too much fascination with shots of Asano wailing on his guitar. The film sets a mark with an explosive start, and feels a bit like Takashi Miike’s Dead or Alive, in its struggle to maintain it.
Still, this would be all minor nit-picking if it were not for the climax. Ishii digs himself such a huge hole with his raucous build up and a great moment where Morrison is pushed over the edge, ready to short circuit with anger. The climax simply disappoints the viewer, especially when fifty minutes are spent in anticipation of it. It’s a needlessly cool premise stretched out 30 minutes too long and crafted with a manic rush that fails to consider the importance of a well-written climax. If your film is all about building and maintaining this irrepressible kinetic and electric energy, surely you must know that it has to go somewhere, it has to explode. It can’t simply fizzle out.
Reviewed by Tarun
