Part of the Edinburgh International Film Festival
Renowned Japanese director Takashi Miike provides a hyperactive, visually and narratively-insane sequel to manga adaptation The Mole Song: Undercover Agent Reiji (2013). We are launched into the insane world of undercover cop Reiji Kikukawa (Toma Ikuta), who finds himself involved in a war between Yakuza boss Todoroki (Koichi Iwaki) and the Dragon Skulls, a Hong Kong-based Triad gang that has allied itself with a yakuza out for revenge against Todoroki. However, Reiji must also contend with anti-mole crusader Police Chief Kabuto (Eita) as well as Todoroki’s amorous teenage daughter Karen (Tsubasa Honda), who will go to any lengths to lose her virginity!
From the explosive opening, featuring Reiji dangling almost completely naked from a helicopter, to the action-packed slave auction-set climax involving a villain becoming a wire-fu “flying squirrel”, an escaped tiger, jet-packs and a pimped-out PSP, Miike maintains a constant level of surrealistic action that never fails to entertain. However, he foregoes the visceral gore of his earlier films for a more fantastical level of violence akin to the 60’s and 70’s Bond films and earlier manga adaptations such as City Hunter, which featured Jackie Chan in the similar role of a hapless detective.
Further highlights include Reiji’s encounters with Dragon Skulls henchwoman Hu Fen (Nanao), whose resemblance to Kingsman: The Secret Service‘s Gazelle is quickly nullified by Reiji’s unique way of fighting her involving suffocation with a dirty plunger. In addition, Miike experiments with animation, such as during a flashback to Karen’s failed love life as a schoolgirl, which is animated in the cut-out style made popular by South Park. Director of Photography Nobuyasu Kita provides the film with a colourful palette that reflects its manga-based origins, with the Hong Kong-based climax in particular using rich deep reds and vivid golds to show the Bond villain-esque opulence of the Dragon Skulls slave auction.
The Mole Song: Hong Kong Capriccio is a shining example of a director placing his own idiosyncratic stamp on previously existing source material. In a time where comic book adaptations feel increasingly constrained by the need to adhere to a form of corporate blandness, Miike’s freewheeling stylistic approach is a welcome alternative, and one that should not be overlooked.