Espy

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DanTheMan 2 Give Jun Fukuda a film that doesn't involve major miniature special effects sequences or giant rubber-suited monsters and I'll love it. Who knew? It's well documented that I am not a fan of Jun Fukuda's Godzilla films, The War in Space didn't win me over to him that well either; the man has finally given me something to love however in the form of ESPY. Part late 60s James Bond film and part exploitation cinema; shot by the same cinematographer as Akira Kurosawa's Ran and other later productions; starring the original Kamen Rider himself Hiroshi Fujioka and Lone Wolf and Cub star Tomisaburo Wakayama as the villain; ESPY is part run of the mill spy vs spy plot mixed with psychic abilities almost akin to the force. This is definitely a film that has to be seen to be believed. A bad ESP syndicate is planning to kill world leaders through mental telepathy. The good guys are a top-secret group called ESPY and they're in charge of stopping the killer psychics. The plot synopsis itself is incredibly basic but the film delivers on its bat shit insane premise tenfold with seemingly every action scene trying to one-up the last, be it via a giant explosion firing gun or a plane defying the laws of physics to dodge a mountain, Jun Fukuda delivers. It's a pretty beautifully shot film and Fukuda's utter insane direction compliments the action sequences beautifully, honestly, this film would fit right at home with shows like The Protectors due to its globe-trotting gentlemen spy aesthetic. It's got a great cast and they all deliver a great performance worthy of this film's camp factor. Even right down to the very dodgy but laugh-out-loud teleportation scene. The music is pretty excellent, despite this being my only exposure to Masaaki Hirao at the moment, I know he has composed the music for Lady Snowblood and one of the Female Prisoner movies so I have those to look forward to eventually. So, ESPY has finally given me a Jun Fukuda movie to love for all the right reasons compared to the wrong reasons. It's batshit insane camp and it knows it rather than it being just plain boring or unintentionally campy like so many of his other films; also Caeser is the best character in this movie despite the fact he is literally a dog. Rated 4/5 Stars •  Rated 4 out of 5 stars 08/25/23 Full Review Read all reviews

Espy

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