Outrage Coda

Takeshi Kitano writes, directs, and stars as former Yakuza boss Otomo in this third and final film in the crime series that began with the 2010 action thriller Outrage. After surviving a mob war in Beyond Outrage (2014), Otomo now works for a South Korean crime boss with ties to the Japanese underworld. When a reckless soldier with Otomo's old gang—the Hanabishi clan—kills one of Otomo's men, Otomo defies orders and returns to Japan to lay waste to the entire group. The clan chairman, a former businessman who runs the organization like a corporation, isn't trusted by the yakuza soldiers and when he pits two underbosses against each other, a power struggle ensues. Outrage Coda is talky for a gangster thriller and the complicated plot of schemes, alliances, and betrayals is often hard to follow, although there is a bitter edge of humor to the vicious plots of the gang members and a brutal directness to the violence (which includes a machine gun massacre). Kitano is absent for much of the first hour of the film, which focuses on the machinations within the Hanabishi clan, and the deliberate pacing and deadpan direction may frustrate American viewers used to splashy action movies. But Kitano’s fans will appreciate his unmistakable presence both behind the camera and onscreen as he applies the yakuza code to the power-hungry members of his corrupted old gang. A strong optional purchase. (S. Axmaker)