Hard Revenge Milly & Hard Revenge Milly: Bloody Battle
Directed by: Takanori TsujimotoStarring: Miki Mizuno, Nao Nagazawa Synopsis: Set in a lawless futuristic wasteland, Hard Revenge Milly sees Milly (Mizuno) tracks down the gang, led by Jack, who murdered her husband and her baby, and left her for dead with horrific injuries. Milly has been kitted out with a number of cybernetic surprises, including a shotgun implanted in her knee! In Hard Revenge Milly: Bloody Battle, Milly is approached by a young woman called Haru (Nagazawa), who wants to hire Milly to find and kill the person who murdered her boyfriend. No sooner have the couple met, however, than Milly is attacked by a new gang led by Ikki, a gay psychopath who also has some enhanced body-parts. Not only that, but Ikki possesses a secret which could drive a stake between the two women. Review:Following in the tradition of Machine Girl, Tokyo Gore Police, and Samurai Princess, Hard Revenge Milly is awash with geysers of blood and explicit gore fx. Thankfully, it leans more towards the energy of the former films rather than the sluggish bore-fest that was Samurai Princess. There is little point reviewing these films separately – Hard Revenge Milly is a short film in which Milly takes revenge, hard, on the Jack Brothers. The flash-backs showing her family’s murders is pretty harrowing and disturbing, even though this sequence isn’t as graphic as others. The fight sequences are rather well done, with the camera movements giving them a real manga feel. The denouement, where Jack faces the consequences of what he did, is quite entertaining. 
Amidst the carnage of Bloody Battle, there are a couple of themes which help lift the subject matter beyond an excuse for gore-fx (by Yoshihiro Nishimura, responsible for the gore fx in the aforementioned films). Like in Machine Girl, Milly finds herself caught up in the never-ending cycle of revenge. Milly has avenged the death of her family at the hands of the Jack Brothers. Now she is hunted by Ikki, who wants to avenge Jack, his one-time lover. Then there is Haru…
The second element involves the doctor who patches up
Milly
and gave her the cybernetic weapons to take her revenge. Milly keeps seeing a vision of a young girl, and complains of constant headaches. She is partly convinced that the vision is part of a wiped memory and that she may have been given memories of someone else. The doctor takes a MRI scan and tells her that she is fine. However the final scene suggests – merely suggests – that this might not be the case and there may be even more to Milly than we’ve already seen.Miki Mizuno works really hard to sell Milly as a viable threat and as the behind-the-scenes footage on the disc shows, she does all her own fight scenes and stunt-work (the director apparently never uses stunt-doubles). She presents a character who is emotionally damaged, rather than emotionless. 
Milly also gets her hands on the best pair of nun-chucks you’re ever likely to see, which beat the drill-bra from Machine Girl for most out-there weapon of all time. Seeing Milly decimate a whole squad of baddies with those things is a seriously cool moment.Verdict Ridiculous geysers of blood aside, this is an entertaining revenge flick full of action and enough savvy to add a little depth to the proceedings. I am curious enough by what has been presented to demand a third instalment. 7 out of 10 (MikeOutWest) New! CommentsHave your say about this! Leave me a comment in the box below. |
