The Fable: Korosanai Koroshiya is an excellent sequel.

 

After thoroughly enjoying the 2019 action comedy, The Fable, naturally, I had high hopes for the sequel. I am pleased to report that I was not let down whatsoever as the sequel is also a very good movie. It is different in a few aspects, but not necessarily in a bad way and I'll attempt to explain. 

Following the events of the first movie, Akira Sato aka The Fable, attempts to return to an ordinary life alongside his partner, Yoko Sato. Spending his days working for the design company Octopus and watching comedian Jackal Tomioka on tv, Sato works hard in order to blend in. Unfortunately, a former target of Sato's that survived due to the hit being cancelled, is operating within the vicinity. Going by the alias Utsubo, the man has built a successful career as the president of an NPO (Non-Profit Organisation) that focuses on the safety and future of children. At night however, Utsubo works with a small team that includes killer for hire Suzuki and Isaki to extort and murder people that Utsubo labels chickens. 

Also apart of Utsubo's team is a wheelchair bound young lady named Hinako Saba. Hinako Saba is also from The Fable's past as he murdered her would-be pimp 4 years ago and saves her from dying in the subsequent car crash. The 2 have a fateful chance encounter in a public park as Hinako does some physical therapy. Isaki and Utusbo launch a plan that involves Sato's co-worker, Kainuma and things get out of hand swiftly. 

Once again, Kan Eguchi did an commendable job at directing. This time he focused more on a more subdued, intimate and personal narrative. He also managed to get the best performances from both the old and new cast members. 

The cinematography was excellent much like in the first movie. The camerawork features dynamic movement, mixing a variety of shot types that enhance the narrative. There is more static shots than in the first movie, but it is a necessary choice as the narrative is built a little slower and with less action. The dynamic flair of the camerawork during the action sequences helps heighten the tension and thrill of the violence. 

As the narrative is much more subdued than in the first movie, the editing is much slower as a reflection. It gives the story much more room to breathe with the focus being the dramatic narrative unfolding in the scenes before the action. 

The soundtrack is rather solid. There's some good tracks that heighten the tension and excitement of the action sequences in particular. My favourite use of music is in the comedic moments, especially one moment in particular as the dramatic music stops right before a rather humous response in some hilarious dialogue. My one complaint would be rather simple, please stop with the Lady Gaga noise in the credits! Her noise makes my ears bleed! 

The much more intimate, personal narrative of Korosanai Koroshiya makes the slower pace full of tension. There are some great, tense moments of dialogue between characters that feel like it could just escalate into unadulterated violence at any moment. This applies doubly to scenes featuring Utsubo, the two-faced man. It's debatable as to whether his smiles are ever sincere or if it's simple him scheming something sinister. Everything is does can be questioned in one form or another, even his work for his NPO. Does he truly just want to help the children? Or is he going to find some way to exploit them all? That makes him a rather intriguing antagonist. 

The action sequences are quite elaborate and have intricate choreography. There were a few times where I questioned certain elements, but the movie was good enough to have me not care a few moments later.

Much of the comedy once again comes from Sato's attempts to blend in with the community and live a normal life. His lack of social experience and inexperience with society in general lead to him making some comical mishaps. We see why his relationship with Misaki hasn't progressed much since the first movie with his sharpened reflexes as an assassin keeping him utterly oblivious to Misaki's subtle romantic advances. In fact the scenes at the Octopus design company in general are filled with humour and the boss, Takoda, also has some great moments. 

Junichi Okada is once again tremendous in the titular role. The way in which he is able to portray the stoic, badass fighting machine and the very contrasting comedic, fish out of water duality is phenomenal. I really enjoyed the chemistry he had with Fumino Kimura and Yurina Hirate. 

Fumino Kimura was also excellent in the role of Yoko Sato. She's drunk much less often than in the first movie and that'll definitely help her performance appeal to those who might have disliked her in the first movie. She also has much more action and she looks great kicking butt. 

Yurina Hirate had an emotionally charged performance as Hinako Saba. She handled a lot of differing emotional beats expertly and was very convincing as the wheelchair bound young lady. 

Shinichi Tsutumi excelled in the role of Utsubo. He portrays the public face as well as the criminal face with precision. The narrative works really well in large part due to his captivating performance. He didn't have as good a wardrobe as Sunagawa did in the previous movie, but he did make a bulletproof vest look cool. Also, it was a blast seeing him share the screen with Junichi Okada again. As a fan of SP, it felt like a neat reunion. 

It was nice to see Ken Yasuda, Koichi Sato and Kai Inowaki reprise their roles from the first movie in neat cameos. I'm glad that they weren't forgotten as they all did splendidly in their roles. 

Overall, Korosanai Koroshiya is a worthy sequel that also stands on its' on as it offers a different experience from its predecessor whilst keeping the main elements intact. I'd absolutely recommend it to those who enjoyed The Fable, action comedies and even those who enjoy more drama in their action movies.