"The opening scene – a young boy playing catch with his
father on a hot summer’s day as his brother looks on from the side-lines - will
have you believe you’re watching a quirky Japanese drama. It’s all very innocent
and sweet natured, or at least it would be, had it not been the latest
shock-buster from Sushi Typhoon. Battlefield Baseball (2003) director Yamaguchi
Yudai follows up his chaotic action blast with more of the same and then some.
Teaming up with Sakaguchi Tak (Yakuza Weapon) for the second
time in 2010, Deadball focuses on the superhuman pitcher Jubei, who is forced
to lead a juvenile delinquents baseball team against a girls' high school team
trained by a Caucasian Neo-Nazi. I kid you not. You can score points by killing
your opponents, and the more OTT it is the better. Which is kind of lucky
really, because OTT is what Sushi Typhoon specialises in.
After discovering Jubei's pitching abilities, the
reformatory's authority forces Jubei to join Pterodactyl's team The Gauntlets
and lead them to victory at a national tournament. Their first opponents are
the "psycho butcher girls" of St. Black Dahlia High School - because
you can’t have a Sushi Typhoon production without a sprinkling of
sex-ploitation. There’s more to the plot than that of course, but lets face it,
nobody’s checking out Deadball for character development and award winning
story arcs.
Sakaguchi Tak reins it in for the most part, which is
pleasing to see after his overbearing performance in Yakuza Weapon. He shows
he’s got acting chops after all, not that we’re talking Oscar worthy you
understand, and his comedy timing shines through at every turn. Deadball’s
greatest strength is in its humour, and at times it really is laugh out loud
funny. A lot of the humour misses the mark though, the CGI effects are cheap
(but inventive) and the plot amounts to little more than what we’ve already
covered, but there’s plenty of gore, action and mayhem to make up for any absence
in quality.
By Sushi Typhoon standards – which is pretty much the
only way you can rate these movies – it’s still middle of the road stuff, but
having Sakaguchi Tak lead the charge is always a good thing. Cheap, cheerful,
rude and crude, Deadball takes a bat to all things tasteful and comes out
swinging. It’s not a great movie – not even by Sushi Typhoon standards – but if
you’re looking for hot girls, gory-fication and juvenile humour, Deadball’s a
homerun of tepid proportions." AW
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