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Director: Ryuhei Kitamura Writers: Jeff Buhler, Clive Barker Starring: Bradley Cooper, Leslie Bibb, Vinnie Jones Indulge me in a bit of hyperbole: Ryuhei Kitamura’s Versus is the greatest movie ever made. I mean, there’s Yakuza, zombies, guns, swords, and an epic battle between the forces of good and evil! Phew. Thanks for letting me get that out of my system. Now, you can probably guess how excited I was when I heard that Kitamura was directing the first of many adaptations of the short stories contained in Clive Barker’s excellent Books of Blood. The second story in that collection, “Midnight Meat Train” is the tale of Leon, a man constantly seeking decadence in its many forms, be it sex, gambling, drugs, booze, etc. In the underground subway system of New York City, he crosses paths with Mahogany, a man who shows him decadence in forms he could never have previously imagined. Midnight Meat Train, the film, is a bit of a different beast. The protagonist is still named Leon (Bradley Cooper), but he isn’t a decadent. Here, he’s a vegan (I know - groan) photographer with a waitress girlfriend named Maya (Leslie Bibb). He snaps photos of crime scenes for a living, but he aspires to have his more artistic work on display in the gallery of Susan Hoff (Brooke Shields). He manages to swing a meeting with her through a friend, the oddly named Jurgis (Roger Bart). It’s a brief encounter: she dismisses his work as tame, telling him he hasn’t yet captured the “heart of the city.” Through movie logic, Leon decides that he can only achieve his goal by taking pictures at 2AM. This exposes him to the city’s seedy underbelly. Leon doesn’t realize it, but he’s on a collision course with Mahogany (the awesome Vinnie Jones). Kitamura’s Mahogany is a mute killing machine, a hulking Grim Reaper who dispatches his victims with an unchanging scowl. The scenes featuring Mahogany permit the director to flex his creative muscle. Here, blood flies in some inventive ways. One particularly entertaining set-piece involves a first-person view of a decapitation - from the victim’s perspective. What’s Mahogany doing with the bodies? Those familiar with the story already know. Those who don’t get a hint in Mahongany’s day job as a butcher. Those who loved the short story will probably be taken aback by Kitamura’s changes, but Barker didn’t put enough material for a feaure length film on the page. And the story wasn’t without fault. Barker’s Leon didn’t have a character arc. He was a decadent from beginning to end. Kitamura’s Leon has a steady decline. When he tears voraciously into a rare steak, we suspect that Mahogany has affected him. When he can’t photograph his girlfriend as she slowly disrobes without picturing human bodies hung like meat, we know. The movie Leon is fully realized. Kitamura’s first Hollywood picture shows plenty of promise. While Versus displayed his ability to direct a violent, balls-out action/horror movie, Midnight Meat Train shows he can also pull off a mature horror film. It’s a shame that the folks at Lion’s Gate basically dumped the movie into 100 theaters across the country. We had to see it at a second-run theater - one of only two in the entire state of Arizona showing the film. Hopefully, enough people will support the DVD to ensure more scripts get sent Kitamura’s way. Pros: Great gore, better character development than the short story Cons: Not enough Vinnie Jones, some plot devices seem trite Rating: 4/5 Rabid Koala fucked around with this message at 04:03 on Aug 7, 2008 |
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Aug 7, 2008 03:29
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