First Love (Movie Review)

Last Updated on August 2, 2021

PLOT: A young boxer and a prostitute find themselves attempting to survive a turbulant night in Tokyo. The two are caught in the middle of a group of deadly drug smugglers and other desperate and dangerous criminals looking for blood.

REVIEW: Takashi Miike has taken a few intriguing turns in his impressive career. Whether you are talking about the twisted tale of love and horror offered in AUDITION, or the intense brutality of ICHI THE KILLER, he always brings something fascinating to the bloodbath on display. In his latest, FIRST LOVE (original title HATSUKOI), he tells the comedically violent story of two innocents who have been sucked into the world of crime and danger. In many ways, this feature has elements of something you’d see Tarantino take on, or even Ben Wheatley’s under appreciated FREE FIRE. Even still, Miike’s modern day crime flick is filled with over-the-top performances and bloodshed, brightly colored neon lights and a familiar element that comes with this type of brutal action flick.

Leo (Masataka Kubota) is a young and talented boxer. When he is easily knocked up during a match, he goes in to see a doctor who tells him he has a very serious condition and he only has a certain amount of time to live. And then there is Monica (Sakurako Konishi), a girl he happens upon one fateful night while dealing with his own tragic issues. He finds that the young girl has been kept as a prostitute by a group of low life drug smugglers. When Leo and Monica meet, she brings with her a series of problems that include illegal drugs, crooked cops, the Yakuza and more. All of them end up going after this young couple who are only looking for a way out of this messed up world. This is a love story with body parts and bloody shoot outs galore.

There is an energy that goes into most of Miike’s features, and this is certainly no exception. However, there is so much that is familiar here that in many ways it's almost distracting. If you look at recent action movies like the JOHN WICK franchise or the Clive Owen caper SHOOT EM UP, you are going to feel like you’ve seen much of this before. However, as the film progresses and the focus remains on both Monica and Leo, the heart of FIRST LOVE begins to come through. If you’re going to truly invest in these two, you have to put up with a number of performances that go from the sublime to cartoonish. The villains are either screaming and ready to kill, or screaming and ready to cry. It’s a weird group of baddies, and it took a bit of time to not be annoyed by some of their choices.

As mentioned, the heart of the film is Leo and Monica. As a young girl forced into drug use and prostitution, Konishi gives the role as much depth as she possible could. With Kubota, the young actor brings a level of sincerity and warmth to the story. The violence around them is so crazed, that when you find the rare quiet moments involving the two, it’s surprisingly refreshing. After all, you know that any minute now Ichikawa (Jun Murakami) and Julie (Becky) will tear through the screen chewing every inch of scenery left. Occasionally that makes the baddies a bit more enjoyable to watch, but their hyperkinetic performances – while still often entertaining – sometimes get a bit tiring.

Visually speaking, there is a ton going on here and its mostly pretty gorgeous. The gore sequences – and there is quite a bit considering its simply a crime flick – are in abundance. Severed limbs and exploding gun fire fill the screen on a regular basis. Even still, there is that feeling of familiarity in the story and even in the constant barrage of bullets. However, it’s an easy watch, even if you don’t like reading subtitles. Perhaps the over-the-top performances help bring a bit of understanding as to what is going on even if you miss a few words or so. Thankfully, the heroes are interesting enough to want them to survive in this vicious world. And yes, the violence is also heavy on humor with a bloody tongue planted firmly in cheek. You need not take any of it seriously.

FIRST LOVE is an enjoyably bloody cinematic assault, one that I appreciated more after the fact. You may feel like you’ve seen it before due to lack of original ideas, and the bombastic villains can be tiresome. Still, there’s an undeniable energy and you can’t help rooting for the two leads. It helps that the two have wonderful chemistry together, and if you just accept that every bad guy seems to be living in a real life cartoon, you will most likely find a bit of brutal joy in the proceedings. If you’re a fan of Takishi Miike, there is a damn good chance you’ll be entertained by his latest. It may not be his most accomplished work, but there’s enough insanity here to relish for a couple of hours.