646f9e108c When Nick Davis leaves prison after one year in solitaire, he is hired to operate forklift in a warehouse in the harbor owned by the Japanese Yakuza patriarch Isshin Tendo. The place is assaulted by the Italian Mafia leaded by Dino Campanela and Nick rescues and saves the life of Shuji Sawamoto, who is the representative of Yakuza interests in America. Shuji hires Nick to work for Yakuza and becomes his godfather in the family after his oath to join Yakuza. However, Nick is a lonely FBI undercover agent assigned to penetrate in the criminal organization. When the FBI discovers that Campanela is organizing a massive attack to destroy the Yakuza, Nick&#39;s boss Littman calls off the operation to leave the dirty work to the Italian Mafia. But the connection of Nick with Shuji and his goddaughter Yuko forces him to help his Japanese family. An American FBI agent is lured away by the Japanese Mafia–the Yakuza–in this action film. I don&#39;t normally like gangster movies, but this is definitely an exception. I saw it twelve years ago and was very impressed. And having bought it on DVD recently, it is justgood today.<br/><br/>The quality of production is excellent considering the amount of money they spent on it. The action scenes are tense and well constructed. The scene in the van with the Japanese music is hilarious. Every scene in the movie is meaningful and progresses the story nicely.<br/><br/>On the downside, I felt that Viggo Mortensen&#39;s character didn&#39;t have that much to say for himself, his dialogue could have been improved, for example, when he first joins the Yakuza, you would expect him to have questions.<br/><br/>I won&#39;t spoil the ending by stating it here, suffice to say that it seemed a little unrealistic. But, a movie definitely worth watching. American Yakuza is a story of an FBI agent named David Brandt (Viggo Mortensen) who posesNick Davis and infiltrates the Japanese Yakuza. This is written in the plot outline but it seems to be a twist in the story about a 3rd of the way through. While on the job, Nick helps the Yakuza when they are surprise attacked by the Mafia. After fending off the attackers he saves the life of Shuji Sawamoto (Ryo Ishibashi), who just happens to be a high ranking Yakuza member. It is here that they establish a friendship and an eventual spot in the Yakuza for Nick Davis.<br/><br/>For the most part, I enjoyed the story which pits the FBI against the Yakuza against the Mafia. You never know which way the tide is going to turn.<br/><br/>As for the acting, the major players were great. Viggo Mortensen and Ryo Ishibashi did a good job in their leading roles. Some of the smaller parts could have used some work but overall, I enjoyed this movie and came out of it with no major complaints. 7/10
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365 weeks ago