Yet there is the nagging sense that this film doesn't quite work, and I have an idea as to why. Any crossover film trying to bridge the oceanic gap between Eastern cinema and Hollywood is going to run into problems. Stylistically and thematically, there are certain elements in Eastern film that do not translate well in Western cinema. The concepts of loyalty and betrayal, prevalent in Takeshi's previous Yakuza-oriented films, such as Violent Cop or Sonatine, play poorly against a weakly conceived concept of what American gang life and attitudes are. The idea of honor being so readily embraced by a gang of lowlife drug pushers in LA is implausible and rings false.
American stereotypes abound, and the pacing seems awkward.
Events occur too quickly, leaving the audience feeling left behind. Throughout the film, I was constantly aware of the absence of Takeshi's usual poetry. The violence in this film seemed too straightforward and didn't do what the scene in Hana-Bi did, where blood on Takeshi's face glares in contrast to the white tile around him, and in stark terms evinces a world unraveling for this man. Here it seems there is graphic violence, but only for its own sake We can relish the irony in the fact that it was Western cinema that gave birth to this new brand of Yakuza film. Following World War II, American gangster movies found their way into Japanese theaters along with Westerns starring familiar anti-heroes.