Review: 009-1: The End of the Beginning

Set in 21^st Century Japan (or J-Country, as it’s called here), whilst the world at large is divided into two warring power blocs. J-Country is kind of a border country or underground territory. Our protagonist is Agent 009-1, AKA Mylene (Mayuki Iwasa), who works for a spy agency that turns orphans into cyborg super-agents with supposedly little to no memory of their past human existence. By the way, her breasts are literally her weapons. Just thought I’d point that out. Her mission is to rescue the scientist behind the program that created agents like 009-1, who has been kidnapped. Things get more and more complicated the longer the film goes on, including someone who may be from Agent 009-1’s past.

 

Although I’ve not personally read the manga it’s based on, this 2013 spy/action flick from director Koichi Sakamoto and screenwriter Keiichi Hasegawa seems pretty in keeping with the usual themes one finds in other adaptations of Japanese manga. Titties and fetish outfits in the opening scene had me thinking I was back to the good ‘ol 80s and 90s of HK Cat III films, but lead actress Mayuko Iwasa soon proves to be rather coy (or has a no-nudity clause in her contract), and you quickly realise that like most of these manga adaptations, it’s more tech and violence-geared than sex or nudity. That’s fine, just not to my particular taste. It’s still quite slick, stylish, and works well enough on a surface level. I just think if ever a film cried out for some trashy sex, it’s this one. It’s the kind of thing that a lot of 14-17 year-old boys will dig (or, if you’re older now, you would’ve dug it when you were 14-17), whereas when I was around that age, I was rather more into films like “Erotic Ghost Story” and “Naked Killer”. Still, looking at it a bit more objectively, I can see the appeal and appreciate the film for what it is and who it’s aimed at, even if it’s really just surface-level entertainment at best. Hey, there’s nothing wrong with that when the surface is fun and well-done as it is here.

 

The CG-looking blood and camera angles are indicative of the source, the film really does look superb, as does the gorgeous Mayuko Iwasa. The ‘chick fights’ here are fun and lightning quick, but on the sex front I was disappointed that the one Sapphic scene we get features the lead character’s metallic chesticles, which kinda spoils the mood really. On the violence front, however, we do get one very graphic bit of gore that seems to tip its hand to George Romero (I’m not sure the manga, first published 40 years ago, would’ve had something as graphic as that. I don’t know for sure, though). That was quite lovely. In fact, the second half is pretty bloody violent, if not quite “The Story of Ricky”.

 

Put “RoboGeisha”, James Bond, “Neon Genesis Evangelion”, and TV’s “Dark Angel” in a blender, and you’ll probably get something close to this lightweight, but pretty enjoyable spy-action flick with manga roots. I personally would’ve liked a sexier approach, but I’m not familiar with the manga, so perhaps this is a pretty faithful adaptation. I wanted to love it, I ended up kinda liking it. It’s well-done for what it is, and I wouldn’t mind seeing it turned into a series of films, but it’s best recommended to those who favour violent action over the other kind of ‘action’.

 

Rating: B-