After Yakuza hetman Mizuki (Sho Aikawa) watches a high-priced target gunned down by another assassin, he combs the underworld in search of clues. that will reveal his rival's identity. But when the two executioners meet, they discover they are long-lost childhood friends. Now reunited, Mizuki and his amigo Shiuchi (Riki Takeuchi) team up to pay off their spiritual debts while staying one trigger-pull ahead of the Yakuza mobsters and drug triad killers who want them dead.

Somehow simultaneously reprising and reversing their roles from the first "DOA" installment, Japanese "V Film" cult actors Aikawa and Takeuchi are joined by "Tetsuo The Body Hammer" creator Shinyu Tsukamoto in a rare onscreen appearance. Director Miike loads "DOA2" with equally rich portions of mayhem and sentiment, creating both a bloodthirsty Asian action film and a lyrical journey of cinematic finesse.

Eerily reminiscent of Beat Takashi's laconic but poignant comedy dramas like Sonatine (1993), and Hana-bi (1997), this is a slow-paced and thought-provoking film about the nature of evil and wickedness. Although there's also a great deal of bloodshed, with several members of the Asian gangster fraternity targeted by our antiheroes for a variety of particularly messy deaths, Dead Or Alive 2 is not really a horrific movie. Its gallows humour is more whimsical than cruel, and the heroic status awarded to Otamoko and Sawada, before the necessarily downbeat and wholly predictable ending, means they are both transformed - figuratively and literally - into iconic angels of death.

What makes Miike Takashi's borderline fantasy action picture so worthwhile is the occasional moments of irreverent humour, its carnage and mayhem leavened by amusing moments of cartoonish invention (as when Otamoko reaches over his shoulder and pulls a concrete block from thin air to strike down an attacker). The director seems to revel in these scenes of unexpected novelty, and it's a tribute to his skill as a filmmaker that they work so well and so often, whatever the context of their appearance in the film. However, despite a couple of viewings, I have to say that Dead Or Alive 2 remains vaguely unsatisfying and is inferior to its earlier title-mate. Dead Or Alive had considerably more raw energy, its action sequences were better orchestrated, and its genuine shocks and narrative twists could not be anticipated. This movie only succeeds its predecessor if you don't expect to be so greatly impressed with the dynamic fantasy aspects...

I was expecting to write a review that would simply disgustingly glorify the body of work of one of the most exciting and hardest working directors in the UNIVERSE, but something really frustrated me. I was going to mention how this guy makes something like a billion films a year and every single one of them is a deep kick in the ass that leaves the taste of shoe soles behind your teeth, but again, I was frustrated. Along with many other fans, Audition was my introduction to his work. Soon, Visitor Q, Fudoh: The Next Generation, City of Lost Souls, Ichi the Killer and the beginning of the DoA Trilogy, Dead or Alive, made me realize we finally had a new cult hero. Director Takashi Miike became that cool senior guy in high school that just wanted everyone to have a good time and kept pressuring you to drink and drink until you spewed last weeks IHOP waffle special. You may feel like shit afterwards, but damn you had lots of fun in the meantime. Miike's films have that under the influence of an alcoholic or illegal substance experience with the complete down and out hang over outcome. However you always come back for more and go through the entire experience once again because you love it.

And so, recovering from the gore fest of Ichi The Killer, I was ready to take in Dead or Alive 2: Birds (DoA 2). Keep in mind the first Dead or Alive leaves you without much of a chance for a sequel considering (WARNING WARNING!!!!! SPOILER AHEAD) the world seems that it's about to be eradicated. Well leave it to Miike to make a sequel that isn't necessarily a sequel you would expect. Actors Sho Aikawa (The Eel, Pulse) and Riki Takeuchi (Fudoh: The Next Generation, Battle Royal II) return to Dead or Alive 2 in new roles. They play Mizuki Otamoko (Sho Aikawa) and Shuuichi Sawada (Riki Takeuchi), childhood friends that grew up in an island orphanage who find themselves, after many years of not seeing each other, hitmen hired to assassinate the same man. After returning to the orphanage that they grew up in, they regress to their childhood memories. This experience leaves them wanting to change their ways and use their skills as hitmen to go after the very gangsters they were involved with as an attempt to make a safer world for the children of the world. However, this sudden change is confronted by three distinct silent yakuza assassins.

DoA 2 has several moments of Miike's signature blood and splatter ultra violence. There's even a brief moment of necrophilia for those who couldn't get enough from Visitor Q. DoA 2 however is perhaps the most violently toned down of Miike's recent films. DoA 2 balances the hardcore violence common in Miike's films with humbling reflective moments and child-like playfulness amongst the characters. A reoccurring theme is the youthful innocence that is lost when one enters into a life of violence and crime. This approach to the sequel might turn off fans of the first DoA, but Miike delivers a film with fun characters. Sho Aikawa this time around is the more interesting character in the DoA series. Unlike his serious and vigilant character in the first DoA, Aikawa is a bleach blonde spirited assassin, who is somewhat of a comic relief to Takeuchi's more serious character. Accomplished underground Japanese director Shinya Tsukamoto (Iron Man, Tokyo Fist) has a great cameo as a magician who hires Aikawa's character to assassinate a local gang boss.

Now back to my initial frustration in my review. Although I did manage to enjoy DoA 2, my experience would have been so much more satisfying had it not been for the awful English subtitle translation. Several sentences were incoherent and contained many misspellings. The three quiet yakuza hitmen communicated through text messages on their phones, but those messages were not translated at all. I was staring at close ups of Japanese text that I did not understand. Aside from my frustration with the subtitles, DoA 2 is a mostly enjoyable sequel, but barely measures up to the initial DoA.