Director: Takashi Miike
Starring: MarioTeah, Michelle Reis, Patricia Manterola, Mitsuhiro Oikawa, Koji Kikkawa, Ren Osugi

- Reviewed by Linda

City of Lost Souls has a great opening sequence. A bus racing across a desolate road carrying prisoners is chased down by a helicopter. Gunfire erupts, the bus screeches to a halt, and the helicopter lands in the road. Wielding a machine gun, dashing bandit Mario (Japanese-Brazilian actor Mario Teah) enters the bus and holds out his hand to a beautiful woman, Kei (the gorgeous Michelle Reis). It's an explosive beginning to an otherwise annoying and mind-numbing action movie. 

Apparently in Tokyo, there just so happens to be a community of Brazilians, Americans, and Chinese (as well expats from just about everywhere else) that have street parties with Latin music and have lots of guns, not to mention living and loving recklessly. There are baffling Mafia gunfights and generic tough guys. There's Kei who doesn't do anything other than get rescued or beaten. Then there's Mario, with his bad 80's hair, pretty-boy pursed lips and high cheekbones. I think the movie was meant to be a funny homage to Hong Kong and Japanese gangster films... But instead I felt like holding my head and shrieking, "For god's sakes, Mario! Rescue ME from this movie! Please!"

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