Yakuza Wolf 2: Extend My Condolences

Beyond the fact that both films star Sonny Chiba taking revenge against the Yakuza, Yakuza Wolf 2: Extend My Condolences (Ôkami Yakuza: Tomurai Ha Ore Ga Dasu) has almost nothing to do with Yakuza Wolf 1: I Perform Murder.

While imprisoned, Ibuki (Chiba) befriends Goro Yuki (Tatsuya Fuji). Ibuki and his new buddy plot escape and a heist that will avenge his betrayal by the Yakuza. On the cusp of the prison break the pair are comically and unexpectedly released. Shortly after gaining their freedom, they are saved from assassination by an old friend. Undeterred, they go about putting together a crew for the heist.

As a movie, Yakuza Wolf 2 feels somewhat confused as to what it is. Is it a buddy comedy, a crime caper or a WW2 style men on a mission film? It tries to cram in a bit of everything. The film's construction is also a little odd. It places its plot twists at the start, explaining them later, which lets the filmmakers have a clear run to do what they're good at: violence and action. The latter two thirds of the film are a perfectly paced sequence of fights and interludes.

Yakuza Wolf 2 is less visually striking than its predecessor. The first film had style, even if it was pinched from other, mostly Italian, films (Django, Blood And Black Lace, The Bird With The Crystal Plumage). Far less attention has been given to art direction. The visuals are often cluttered and indistinct, and mostly unimaginative. Outside of the fight scenes the camera doesn't do a lot of work.

The films differ in other ways. Extend My Condolences uses a lot of humour. Sonny Chiba and Tatsuya Fuji's Jack the Lad double act makes for entertaining scenes in the prison. They are both really quite good at physical comedy. It gives the film a much lighter tone and allows for a refreshingly ironic ending. The action sequences are far more reliant on martial arts than gun play and don't follow the convention of the Spaghetti Western. The fight choreography in these is remarkably good. On a more sober note, the gratuitous sexual violence that pervaded I Perform Murder is absent. Such violence is present but not as problematic because it is only there to serve the plot.

For all its flaws, Yakuza Wolf 2: Extend My Condolence is there to do one thing: to be a vehicle for the action sequence. At that it excels.