Mad Cats, 2023.
Directed and written by Reiki Suono.
Starring Sho Mineo, Ayane, Yuya Matsuura, So Yamanaka, Hikari Aiko, Asachill, and Amanda B.
SYNOPSIS:
A shiftless young man sets off on a quest to find his missing archaeologist brother. Along the way, he teams up with a quirky new friend and a mysterious young woman. They are faced with taking on a pack of vicious monster cats to uncover the secret of the brother’s disappearance.
Cat people (werecats?) are cool. When they’ve got lots of weapons and are cool looking that’s even cooler. And when they’re determined to retrieve and protect their special catnip that’s cooler still (and pretty funny).
Reiki Tsuno’s Slamdance and Fantasia 2023 official selection Mad Cats takes this geeky idea and goes to town with it.
The Japanese film is a fantasy martial arts comedy mash-up with a little bit of mild horror (don’t be expecting anything like the cat from Hausu, though) thrown in. It’s essentially an action film, and the comic book visuals take precedence over the background story.
There’s a flurry of energetic fight sequences choreographed to precision featuring cat-people wielding nunchucks, swords, pistols and machine guns. Occasionally the viewer may feel that the sequences could have gone on a bit longer, but for a low-budget indie flick the scenes are excellently put together and realised.
The story itself focuses on the trailer-living slacker Taka (Sho Mineo) who is waiting for his archaeologist brother Mune (So Yamanaka) to return home from Egypt. After he receives a cassette tape with instructions on where to find his brother and a bizarre conversation in English and Japanese from his landlady, he sets off on his BMX bike to the secret location.
Once arriving at a grand old palace he is told to look for a wooden box in an ornate hall. He does this, while clumsily setting off an alarm, and discovers the ancient magic catnip of lore within. At this point, he also discovers the imprisoned Mune who has been sentenced to death by the top cat (Hikari Aiko).
However, soon the feline guardians are alerted to Taka’s presence and just as the Executioner is about to fulfil their role on Taka’s head, he is accidentally saved by the homeless hobo Takezo (Yuya Matsuura).
The two unfortunates are aided in their escape plan and mission to free the brother by the mysterious ninja-like Ayane (Ayane). Ayane is expertly skilled in all forms of hand-to-hand combat and can show off skills with any weapon that comes to hand. This is in marked contrast to the two guys, who are cowardly, ineffectual and mostly incompetent.
From then on, it’s a fanciful ride with various encounters with the long cast list of cat people. In story telling terms it’s computer game style, with one wave of cat monsters appearing after another. The trio of heroes needs to despatch one before continuing on their quest. It’s not exactly sophisticated stuff. But bar from a long-winded fire-side joke from Takezo that falls short, it’s pretty much non-stop action.
All in all, it’s goofy good fun. There’s the sense that Suono could do more with the story should he want to, and there’s enough that could be developed for another movie with more money, or a series. After all, cats have way more than one life (9 to be exact!)
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★ ★
Robert W Monk
