I think I managed to get my bills taken care of at last. I had some stuff that I could sell off, and quickly at that. It was stuff I used to collect but just sit around collecting dust now so it was time to get rid of the stuff. I'm hoping I have my bills under control now and I won't be having any more problems. Outside of that, it is time for another team-up with my two favorite bloggers, Dawn and Terry! It was Terry's turn this month to pick what we would all watch and he went with Tag (2015). As always, you will find the links to the other review at the bottom of this review. Let's see what I thought of this film.
A group of schoolgirls are traveling on a tour bus and having a blast. The bus in front, full of other students, suddenly is cut almost in half, killing everyone on it. The same thing happens to the next bus, but on student manages to get away. At another school, teachers open fire on students. A wedding where the groom wears a large boars head. What do all these things have in common? That is what Mitsuko (Reina Triendl) must figure out. She keeps running into her friend Aki (Yuki Sakurai), who seems to know what is going on but never has time to explain. Will Mitsuko be able to figure things out or is she just losing her mind?
Tag is a movie from Japan by writer/director Sion Sono. This was one weird and bloody movie. I have to admit that it started off in an unforgettable way. Everything seems normal enough until the bus gets sliced through but what appears to be nothing. While the effect didn't really look all that great, it was still a shocking way to start the film. It may have grabbed your attention right away and made you wonder what the hell was going on, but then things slow down a lot for a good while before the next thing happens. I admit that I had no real clue as to what was going on. All I knew was that things were pretty confusing. Mitsuko becomes Keiko, played by Mariko Shinoda, and then turns into Izumi, played by Erina Mano. We end up with a character that has different names and also looks completely different. Aki still calls her Mitsuko though and this is where we are able to start to put the puzzle together some. All is revealed by the end of the film, but I wasn't completely satisfied with the way it was explained. I don't want to spoil the ending so I won't say what happens. The ending made sense to me in a way, as it has been used in a plot for a Black Mirror episode. I understand the concept of what the explanation was going for, but at the same time, I didn't understand the purpose behind it all. While the ending was a bit of a letdown, the whole weird feel of the movie made up for that. I really enjoyed the off-the-wall scenes that the characters go through. The buses at the start of the film were hard to beat, and the film never really outdoes that scene, but I still found the other scenes to be just as fun. I mean we get a school that turns into a war zone and one of the strangest weddings you will ever see. There is also a marathon, but it was probably the weakest of all the scenes.
The effects are a mixed bag. There are times when the effects look great and times when they don't. Some of the time the effects tend to be CGI heavy, like the buses. I was willing to overlook that they look bad though, just because the scene itself is so out there. I understood also why CGI was used for some things, such as the buses, just because doing the effect any other way would probably cost way too much money. That boar head was freaking awesome though. The acting was pretty good. Out of the three actresses that played the lead role, the one that starts and ends in the role, Reina Triendl, was my favorite. Nothing against the other two, as they both did a good job as well, but I just felt Triendl covered more ground with the character. I also liked Yuki Sakurai as well. Aki Hiraoka plays the part of one of the friends that shows up often. Ami Tomite played the part of the other friend and she was probably my favorite of the cast. I just really liked the character and she made me laugh a few times.
One thing about Tag that bugged me at times was all the running! I can't think of any other horror movie that has so much running in it unless it was part of the plot somehow. I was feeling tired just from watching the characters run constantly. I was thinking that I hoped they hired actors that have run marathons before and then a scene about a marathon came up. I had to smile at that because the timing couldn't have been more perfect. If I remember right, this is the third film that I have watched by Sono. I have liked each film so far, but I have never been really impressed by any of them so far. Tag was a fun film in how weird it is at times, but the pacing is a little off in places and I didn't care for the ending at all. Even so, it is worth a watch, if just to see how insane the weird parts of the movie are. I'm looking forward to talking with Dawn and Terry about this movie. I'm also looking forward to reading their reviews, but at the moment it looks like I am the first one to finish a review. I will update with links when I can. In the meantime, if Tag sounds like a film for you, you can watch it on Netflix's instant watch if you have it.
3 out of 5 I hope I have a wedding like this one
A group of schoolgirls are traveling on a tour bus and having a blast. The bus in front, full of other students, suddenly is cut almost in half, killing everyone on it. The same thing happens to the next bus, but on student manages to get away. At another school, teachers open fire on students. A wedding where the groom wears a large boars head. What do all these things have in common? That is what Mitsuko (Reina Triendl) must figure out. She keeps running into her friend Aki (Yuki Sakurai), who seems to know what is going on but never has time to explain. Will Mitsuko be able to figure things out or is she just losing her mind?
Tag is a movie from Japan by writer/director Sion Sono. This was one weird and bloody movie. I have to admit that it started off in an unforgettable way. Everything seems normal enough until the bus gets sliced through but what appears to be nothing. While the effect didn't really look all that great, it was still a shocking way to start the film. It may have grabbed your attention right away and made you wonder what the hell was going on, but then things slow down a lot for a good while before the next thing happens. I admit that I had no real clue as to what was going on. All I knew was that things were pretty confusing. Mitsuko becomes Keiko, played by Mariko Shinoda, and then turns into Izumi, played by Erina Mano. We end up with a character that has different names and also looks completely different. Aki still calls her Mitsuko though and this is where we are able to start to put the puzzle together some. All is revealed by the end of the film, but I wasn't completely satisfied with the way it was explained. I don't want to spoil the ending so I won't say what happens. The ending made sense to me in a way, as it has been used in a plot for a Black Mirror episode. I understand the concept of what the explanation was going for, but at the same time, I didn't understand the purpose behind it all. While the ending was a bit of a letdown, the whole weird feel of the movie made up for that. I really enjoyed the off-the-wall scenes that the characters go through. The buses at the start of the film were hard to beat, and the film never really outdoes that scene, but I still found the other scenes to be just as fun. I mean we get a school that turns into a war zone and one of the strangest weddings you will ever see. There is also a marathon, but it was probably the weakest of all the scenes.
The effects are a mixed bag. There are times when the effects look great and times when they don't. Some of the time the effects tend to be CGI heavy, like the buses. I was willing to overlook that they look bad though, just because the scene itself is so out there. I understood also why CGI was used for some things, such as the buses, just because doing the effect any other way would probably cost way too much money. That boar head was freaking awesome though. The acting was pretty good. Out of the three actresses that played the lead role, the one that starts and ends in the role, Reina Triendl, was my favorite. Nothing against the other two, as they both did a good job as well, but I just felt Triendl covered more ground with the character. I also liked Yuki Sakurai as well. Aki Hiraoka plays the part of one of the friends that shows up often. Ami Tomite played the part of the other friend and she was probably my favorite of the cast. I just really liked the character and she made me laugh a few times.
One thing about Tag that bugged me at times was all the running! I can't think of any other horror movie that has so much running in it unless it was part of the plot somehow. I was feeling tired just from watching the characters run constantly. I was thinking that I hoped they hired actors that have run marathons before and then a scene about a marathon came up. I had to smile at that because the timing couldn't have been more perfect. If I remember right, this is the third film that I have watched by Sono. I have liked each film so far, but I have never been really impressed by any of them so far. Tag was a fun film in how weird it is at times, but the pacing is a little off in places and I didn't care for the ending at all. Even so, it is worth a watch, if just to see how insane the weird parts of the movie are. I'm looking forward to talking with Dawn and Terry about this movie. I'm also looking forward to reading their reviews, but at the moment it looks like I am the first one to finish a review. I will update with links when I can. In the meantime, if Tag sounds like a film for you, you can watch it on Netflix's instant watch if you have it.
3 out of 5 I hope I have a wedding like this one
