The Handsome Man in Japan

There’s usually not a lot to say about shorts five minutes long, but director Dan Martin certainly doesn’t make my task easier with how much time he wastes at the start. Honestly, most of the first fifty seconds could have been cut out. Is anyone still amused by the “initialising cache” intros? I know these movies aren’t supposed to be taken seriously, but this retreading was frankly a little old when I first watched JDR Revival, and that was four years ago. But those sour first impressions were soon forgotten by what ends up being a more or less enjoyable and quirky little PAM.

The Handsome Man in Japan tells the story, as the title implies, of a (disputably!) handsome man who ends up in the pretty surroundings of Japan with a mission to kill. And let me emphasize the word “pretty”, because the models used in the latter half of the movie to depict the destination were incredibly sweet and well used, especially the architecture. Equally awesome were the opening scene and the set-up. Martin once again proves to be a multi-talented guy, as he provides all the voices—including his character’s over-excited female friend. In fact, her childish and pant-wetting anticipation over the Japan trip is perfectly captured and is the highlight of the voice acting in the movie (which is nicely complemented by the frustration of Dan’s character, down to the neat mutter of “for fuck’s sake”).

Unfortunately, the cat-and-mouse chase that inevitably follows was a little too hit-or-miss for my liking, and that’s a bummer considering that’s what at the end of the day the movie is judged on. A lot of the stuff worked—from piloting the totem pole to the red herring towards the end—but there were bits and pieces that despite its decent execution, felt a little old. Take the giant cat and the subsequent skydive. Or what about the pissed off Doraemon character, who spouts out his anger in Japanese? Heck, my sister’s done similar scenes before, and while those were not terribly polished given her general ineptitude at using the program, it still brings up the point that much more effort could have gone into creating more ambitious scenes. There’s nothing entirely wrong with what Martin has made here, but I found it difficult to ignore the lack of originality at times.

Martin saves the best ‘til last, though, with a satisfying conclusion. The sneaking triggered a smile from me, and the slightly more conventional and effortless method of dispatching the target (when compared to, say, sniping from a flying totem pole or firing a homing missile) was both amusing and rather fitting, given the sweat and toil the character has been through in his previous futile attempts. It’s funny how a dash of well-executed creativity can overpower the more tiresome moments. Too bad there’s a bland and pointless epilogue after the credits, involving—oh—an angry, Japanese-shouting Doraemon character.

[Dominator Dan]

ahah THANKS MAN

[Tuna Hematoma]

Your review makes it seem like you would only rate it around 60%.

[Dominator Dan]

oh yeah, PAM? THIS IS NOT A PAM, the beginning gives enough reason to go to japan and GIVE HER WHAT FOR IF THAT'S NOT PLOT I DUNNO WHAT IS

[Wilkins III]

Originally Posted by Tuna Hematoma

Your review makes it seem like you would only rate it around 60%.

I've edited the review slightly, but what I'm trying to get across is that despite its flaws, it's still a good and enjoyable short, and a movie like that deserves a decent score.

[Wilkins III]

Originally Posted by Dominator Dan

oh yeah, PAM? THIS IS NOT A PAM, the beginning gives enough reason to go to japan and GIVE HER WHAT FOR IF THAT'S NOT PLOT I DUNNO WHAT IS

Yes, because THAT'S TOTALLY NOT A RANDOM REASON TO KILL SOMEBODY.

[Tuna Hematoma]

He wanted to kill him because the guy is really annoying and/or Dan wanted to go to Japan and was jealous.

[Aaron Haynes]

Originally Posted by Wilkins III

Is anyone still amused by the “initialising cache” intros?

Yes. I tell him to keep them in every time he does a movie.

[Dominator Dan]

IDEA: For future the youtube versions will not have Cache screens, cause a lot of people i've shown the movie too are like, THE HELL IS THE START ABOUT.

3dmm exclusive sexiness

[Wilkins III]

Yeah, watching it on YouTube probably didn't help.