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There are times when you simply want to ignore your thought processes and watch a movie for pure enjoyment. MACHINE GIRL (Kataude Mashin Gâru), directed and written by Iguchi Noboru, who previously thrilled Fantasia audiences with SUKEBAN BOY, is that kind of film. No campy device is spared as Noboru gives us plenty of blood, gore, ninjas, a machine gun prosthetic arm and a drill bra.
Ami is a college student who enjoys playing basketball and deplores violence. Lately Yu, her younger brother, has been distracted and secretive, mostly due to the fact that his is being bullied at school. The siblings live together in a shamed household since their parents committed suicide over a murder they didn’t commit. When Yu and his friend Takashi are unable to pay the bullies, they are killed. Ami is devastated until she discovers Yu’s notebook, which chronicles the bullying and states who is responsible for his death. She sets off on a trail of vengeance and loses her arm after being captured by a ninja clan led by the sadistic parents of the main bully. Ami barely escapes with her life and manages to stumble to a garage owned by Takashi’s parents. They heal her wounds, train her, and more importantly, build her a machine gun arm.
MACHINE GIRL doesn’t have the epic scope or budget of Tarantino’s revenge thriller KILL BILL, but the message is similar. This girl can kick ass and she’s out for blood. The story isn’t very profound and the characters aren’t fully developed but they don’t need to be. The film is littered with comic book characters and outrageous villains. Takashi is a nerdy student with no natural fighting ability but for an inspired moment when he pushes his glasses up onto his nose and dispatches some of the bullies. The ninja boss is a man of honor with a deep voice who is steeped in tradition and demands respect yet his wife constantly berates him and tells him he isn’t violent enough.
The action and special effects are over the top. Blood sprays all over the place and Ami shoots holes through bodies with her machine gun arm. She is not invincible as she suffers quite a beating, including a creative use of tempura batter on her skin. Miki, Takashi’s mother, slices through her opponents with a chainsaw while the villain employs a flying guillotine. And of course there is a face off with three highly skilled coordinated ninjas. MACHINE GIRL is a popcorn flick that may be a little dark in its subject matter but it knows how to have fun.
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