MAD CATS is a beautifully bonkers action comedy!

 

Sometimes, you just don't know what to expect when starting a movie. You can read the synopsis and still have a hard time imagining what the movie will be like. This was the case for the one I watched for this blog post. Mad Cats was an action comedy movie that was released in 2023 and it was both directed and written by Reiki Tsuno. 

Trailer park living, jobless freeloader, Taka is lounging around one day when he receives a cassette tape. On that tape, a mysterious female tells him to go to the place where his brother found a black cat. As it turns out, the brother is being held there against his will and there's also a wooden box that Taka is tasked with retrieving. Taka infiltrates the building and finds the box, but is forced to flee before he can save his brother. Whilst in possession of the box, he is attacked by crazy cat women or cats that have turned into women. He is aided by a homeless man named Takezo and the woman who sent him the tape. Eventually, they return to rescue Taka's brother. 

Mad Cats is as the title suggests, quite mad. It's a fun movie that doesn't take itself too seriously with most of the laughs being at the expense of the very incompetent protagonist and the homeless man, Takezo. The pair are woefully incompetent and even cowardly. They bumble their way through the movie and Taka even makes excuses for his behaviour such as stating that he believes a man should never hit a woman despite his attempts to fight the cat women. The cat women could be seen as an element of fantasy as could the trippy car ride sequence. 

 Despite having a low budget and a delightfully bizarre premise, one of the biggest strengths of the movie is its beautiful cinematography. Reiki Tsuno is a bit of an auteur and it shows in Mad Cats. There's a dynamic array of shot types, camera angles and techniques used to tremendous effect. Closeup shots are used to highlight reactions and to enhance the comedy of Taka and Takezo's bumbling cowardice and incompetence. Mid-range shots often have stuff to look out for as things happen in the background of seemingly benign scenes. My favourite shots were the wide-angle shots such as the opening shot that swept over the incredible greenery and showed off the landscape. Then there's some shaky cam as Taka runs away from the old building and even some handheld to enhance the frantic nature of the chases and running. Slow-motion is scarcely used and that's a good thing. It is used in one of my absolute favourite scenes in which Taka stares comically at Ayane's lips as she drinks from a beer bottle. He looks on longingly as he wants an indirect kiss, but before he can grab the bottle, it is snatched by Takezo which leaves poor Taka devastated.

There are some decent fight sequences in the movie. All of them involve Ayane. The choreography is pretty good for the most part, especially in the fight against the silent knife lady and the one towards the climax. There are improvements that could have been made such as in the 2 on 1 fight towards the end as there's a part in which it is obvious that one of the ladies pulls her punch so that Ayane can complete the sequence. The camerawork was also a mixed bag. The first fight was shot with too many cuts and filmed too frantically for my taste with too much camera movement. The latter sequences are in comparison, shot much better with less cuts and much more static camera work. The actual moves are clearer to see and follow and this should have been the standard for all fight scenes. 

The whole movie seemed like an Ayane showcase. This isn't a negative as she's a really good stuntwoman and she did really well with what little she was given. She was believable as the badass helper of Taka and Takezo, delivered her dialogue very well and excelled in the fight sequences. She definitely stood out. 

For his part, Sho Mineo expertly portrays protagonist Taka. He was very believable in the role of the cowardly slacker and had me laughing on more than one occasion. He managed to convey some real emotion when the scenes called for it, such as when a certain character is shot. 

Yuya Matsuura is a joy to watch as the cowardly homeless man, Takezo. It's fun to see his fumbles such as when the protagonists are training as he believes that he's great until he gets humbled in a hilarious manner. He also managed to get across some character work and emotion in the scene in which his best joke bombs. I felt sorry for the guy! 

Overall, Mad Cats is not the greatest movie of all time, but it is incredibly fun! Despite being incompetent idiots, the two main guys aren't physically overpowered by smaller women and instead are threatened by weapons and claws. It's also good for a few laughs and is worth seeing for Ayane's performance alone. I would recommend it to those who wanna see something not so serious that has some action, a bizarre premise and some gorgeous cinematography.