The Blood of Wolves (2018) - Yakuza Movie Review

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If you’re looking for a blood-soaked, badass gangster movie - look no further than Kazuya Shiraishi’s 2018 Yakuza epic The Blood of Wolves (Korō no Chi).

Set in Hiroshima, summer 1988, maverick Detective Shogo Ogami has just teamed up with young rookie Shuichi Hioka on The Case of the Missing Financier from a Yakuza Affiliated Company.

Kinda feels like a waste of time either of them hoping to find him alive as the film actually opens with a graphic and brutal depiction of Missing Financier’s sad, stomach churning, and darkly comic demise.

However, this one death is just the tipping point for what will be an unforgiving and savage war between the Odani-gumi and Kakomura-gumi yakuza gangs - heads will roll. Literally.

The irascible, womanising Ogami is played with genuine wit and charisma by seasoned actor Koji Yakusho. His portrayal of the hard-drinking, hard-hitting detective could have felt contrived and caricaturesque in someone else’s nicotine stained hands, but here, he’s just the epitome of cool.

Off-set by uptight partner Hioka (Tori Matsuzaka), there’s constant conflict between the pair as Hioka clings desperately to the black and white ideals of Police versus Gangster while Ogami flits between the two worlds - each visit getting dangerously murkier. But who is Hioka to judge, sure isn’t he himself harbouring a secret of his own?

The wise-cracking, rugged, maverick detective who plays by his own crooked rules becoming just as corrupt as the criminals he’s sworn to suppress is a trope as old as time. Add fresh Young Rookie who likes to play things by the book as Maverick Detective’s new comically mismatched partner into the mix - and you’ve got Crime By Numbers.

Yet, while The Blood of Wolves technically follows this classic formula to the letter, it manages to be thrilling, stylish, emotive and bloody violent (no pun intended) - without feeling stale or “done”.

Narrated throughout in the style of Battles Without Honor & Humanity and starring screen legend Renji Ishibashi, this is definitely one of the grittier yakuza movies I’ve seen made this side of the nineties. The garish, silk shirts, booming rolling Rs and majestic chest-puffing peacocking gangsters alone were delightfully authentic.

The script is well-written with believable dialogue (so rare these days), with equal parts humour and humanity. An economic classical score is tastefully used to highlight drama - and believe me, there is drama. (Enough to bag an abundance of best actor, best supporting actor and best film awards.)

The gang violence is just as shocking and senseless as anything Takashi Miike himself could come up with, but is used sparingly for maximum impact. Throw in a sultry hostess or two who aren’t as sweet as they look, with murderous plot twists galore and you’ve got a damn good film.

There is apparently a 2021 sequel “The Blood of Wolves II” - I am endeavouring to find this as we speak. Streaming now on Shudder, The Blood of Wolves is the perfect Friday Night x Big Bowl of Popcorn film. (Just maybe leave hot dogs off the menu for a while after watching…)

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