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Black Rain Movie Review

Black Rain is a 1989 neo-noir action thriller film directed by Ridley Scott and starring Michael Douglas and Ken Takakura. It’s a very mediocre movie by Scott.

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“I usually get kissed before I get fucked“

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Two NYC cops arrest a Yakuza member and must escort him when he’s extradited to Japan. The only reason to see this movie is for its visuals. The production design is excellent and the cinematography is fantastic. Osaka is here rendered in such a noirish, hellish atmosphere that is pleasantly reminiscent of ‘Blade Runner’. Scott managed to replicate some of that movie’s atmospheric thrills while Hans Zimmer’s score is also quite strong.

However, everything else is so subpar that the movie is not worth seeing at all. My main issue is the plot itself, which is both preposterous and boring. Most of the movie consists of pointless action scenes, but when it focused on dialogue it fared even worse as some plot turns made no sense.

The characterization is also poor, though the actors did their best to elevate their lackluster roles. Michael Douglas is reliably good as always while Ken Takakura delivered the film’s best and most interesting performance. The relationship that develops between the two is the movie’s heart for sure.

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Black Rain had too many shootouts and not enough storytelling in it. The Japanese are portrayed in a silly manner. I wouldn’t call the film racist, but focusing just on the Yakuza members themselves was problematic. The entire second half is a mess while the first half was at least somewhat atmospheric.