Baby Assassins Blu-ray Review

 

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• Director ‏ : ‎ Hugo Sakamoto
• Actors ‏ : ‎ Akari Takaishi, Saori Izawa, Masanori Mimoto, Mone Akitani, Yasukaze Motomiya
• Media Format ‏ : ‎ Subtitled, Widescreen
• Run time ‏ : ‎ 1 hour and 35 minutes
• Studio ‏ : ‎ Well Go Usa
• MPAA rating ‏ : ‎ NR (Not Rated)
• Country of Origin ‏ : ‎ USA
• Number of discs ‏ : ‎ 1
• Release date ‏ : ‎ August 16, 2022

        If only a film could be judged on the merits of a single scene, Baby Assassins would receive nothing less than stellar praise. For those patient enough to plod through the plotless scenes of forced humor and acting which ranges from over-the-top to underwhelmingly understated, Baby Assassins provides one of the most exciting climactic action scenes in years, highlighted by the action choreography by Kensuke Sonomura.

 

Unfortunately, writer and director Yugo Sakamoto fails to provide an interesting script or consistent tone to the direction of the remainder of the film. As a result, Baby Assassins is an underwhelming film which just happens to contain a scene I will likely revisit on its own. With a better storyline, Baby Assassins could have been a memorable action film with dark humor, but instead it is often grating and forgettable.

 

        The simple plot involves two teenage assassins Mahiro (Saori Izawa) and Chisato (Akari Takaishi), whose agency has recently forced them to move in together. They are instructed to get part time jobs as cover for their real job as hired killers, though they both have the unfortunate bad habit of killing their bosses at their places of menial employment. Mahiro is low energy and sarcastic, while Chisato is bubbly and hyperactive, which leads to the pair having difficulty coexisting initially. This is really just a distraction from the main plot, however, which involves their inadvertent rivalry with a local gang of Yakuza.

 

        First the girls are hired to kill someone connected to the Yakuza, so the boss (Yasukaze Motomiya) sends his daughter Himari (Mone Akitani) to discover who carried out the hit. For no real logical reason, this leads nowhere, but the conflict is reignited when the Yakuza inexplicably decides to visit a bizarre café that Chisato happens to be working at. That is essentially all the story has to offer, and considering how annoying the characters can be, it simply isn’t enough. But then there is the final showdown, and a one-on-one fight scene that makes the entire thing worthwhile. I would have loved to see Kensuke Sonomura direct this film himself, because he couldn’t do any worse in terms of story and likely would have included more fight scenes of this caliber.

 

        The Blu-ray release for Baby Assassins doesn’t contain any special features, and the high-definition presentation only makes the shortcomings in filmmaking more noticeable. It is only truly worthwhile for the few action scenes contained in the movie.

 

Entertainment Value: 7.5/10

Quality of Filmmaking: 6.5/10

Historical Significance:  3/10

Special Features: 0/10