Yakuza Weapon

Director Tak Sakaguchi casts himself in the starring role of Shozo Iwaki, a former yakuza hitman whose father is murdered by a top crime honcho. Shozo's one-man war against the killers initially gets off to a successful start, but his efforts are interrupted when a gunfight literally costs him an arm and a leg. But that doesn't stop Shozo—whose prosthetic limbs include a gun for his missing arm and a bazooka for his shot-off leg. Yakuza Weapon mixes yakuza protocol with Tex Avery–style lunacy full of speed and noise. Sakaguchi is more than capable as both a kick-butt leading man and an action/adventure helmsman, although the CGI effects used to turn the limbless Shozo into a walking-talking-shooting machine are only so-so. Still, this is an enjoyably silly excursion that will please fans of Japanese nihilism. Recommended. (P. Hall)