Ehh it wasnt that good. I mean the cinematography and acting was pretty good. Some over the top acting but thats to be expected in a Japanese film. But the pacing and editing was pretty terrible. Not to mention in one scene you see Nick wearing his white shit again after he got his suit. I dont know how that got thru. They seemed to spend to much time in that damn bar anyway. Dont know why they didnt just cut some of that down. The practical FX was really good also. Like you said, started out strong but just started to go down in the last two thirds of the film. A one time watch for sure.

Oh, man. This movie has got everything! Completely unnecessary and unnecessarily lengthy artistic shots of fat guys sumo wrestling, a guy getting a tattoo, a guy looking at other guys in silence etc. I can only imagine the director presenting this movie to the producer and the producer shaking his head and saying "Bro....you have to trim the fat a little bit here! All of this.....it's too much" and the director replying: "Man, you must be completely out of your mind! There's not a single frame, which isn't crucial for the story, in this movie! 'Trim the fat.....' You must be jivin'!".

I have to agree with you guys, although I did like the sumo fight, the tattoo scene, the guys staring in silence... haha... Maybe I don't agree afterall 😂

Something was missing... Maybe the music, or something else... It seemed like we knew where the plot was going, but there wasn't enough else in terms of mood or ideas to explore while the story unfolds...

It reminded me of Black Rain (1989), the Ridley Scott movie starring Michael Douglas... Now that movie had major atmosphere... Loads of attitude and some over the top silliness, but somehow it feel more emotionally resonant than this...

The Outsider was worth a single watch, especially for gangster movie fans, but not anything special...

Black Rain was 100x better than this. I think the main problem for this film is the story. Its like they had a rough idea of where to go with it but just couldnt nail down a ending. I mean it was just so anti climactic and abrupt. I think if they explored the revenge scenes more and had a dual or something at the end it would have been better.

I finally got to the end and can say that it really got progressively worse as it went on. I'm not sure I quite find that old guy as a seasoned Yakuza boss quite believable. With his survival instincts he'd be better suited to be a part of the Jackass group with Johnny Knoxville etc. than a Yakuza boss. If somebody is trying to kill you, it's probably not a great idea to show up unarmed at the proverbial shooting gallery if the guy asking you to show up there is the same person who is trying to kill you. You can't really help but to shake your head at the end either. When the great Yakuza swordsman Jared Leto wants to kill someone with his sword, it's probably not a great idea to give that sword back to him right after you've disarmed him.

@aholejones said:

I finally got to the end

I'm not sure watching this film in 15 minute increments is giving pacing a fair shake. I too have had to suffer through films in that way, but on final assessment I'm never sure if it was my mood or the film (yeah, I often blame the film) that makes it such a bad experience.

As far as this film and your original post, I had a bit of the opposite experience: in the beginning I felt like it was a trope, but as the film developed (and yes, I'll agree that the yakuza--given my limited knowledge of the subject--was pretty cliche just like all gangster flicks) the intentional pacing and focus on honor really shines. This had to be the filmmakers intent. In this way it was a surprisingly unique and gratifying experience. Were it not for the pace, it would have been trope. So many times we westerners want everything on our terms, and perhaps that is why this film does not follow the worn out, shoot-em-up, high adrenaline style that we have come to exclusively call "good".

I thought it was really good and I watch a LOT of Asian movies.