Takashi Miike's latest, Shield of Straw is inadequately non-zany and adequately disappointing. It's an entertaining thriller nonetheless with the regular dose of Miike's signature styled set-piece action and large scale shootouts but not engrossing enough. Uncharacteristically sedated offering from the otherwise outre and maverick director, (perhaps) to accommodate the conventional elements of commercial filmmaking. Tatsuya Fujiwara is the most uninspiring, unmenacing, unintimidating villain in any Miike film I have laid my eyes on. Takao Osawa's retrained intensity is commendable. But the biggest gain from this film is the cinematographer, Nobuyasu Kita with literally breathtaking widescreen and overhead shots, mixing the colour gradients with perfection.
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