Distracted by the sight of a handsome, nearly naked man sprinting across a winding mountain road, Toshiko (Shie Kohinata) inadvertently interrupts a mob execution by crashing her car into a limo full of eccentric assassins. Fresh from a frenzied ménage à trois, Belmondo-cool Samehada (Tadanobu Asano; Taboo, Ichii the Killer) seduces Toshiko into a life-or-death race with an army of mob killers joined by a moon-walking, love-struck amateur hit man dispatched by Toshiko's depraved uncle.

From the Yakuza assassins' color-coordinated guns to the shadow-dappled forests in which the film is set, Shark Skin Man and Peach Hip Girl bursts with an urgently hypnotic collision of wild styles and flights of visual imagination.

First thing, before we even get to the movie, this DVD has to have one of the coolest menu animations I've ever seen. Is this important, really? Of course it is. I love extra features (even when I don't watch them) and slick packaging. Makes you feel like you paid your $$ and got a little extra something, as if you really paid $$$.

OK, so then you press play and deal with the movie. Is it absolutely brilliant? No. Does it have it's flaws, such as lags in the story that go on a bit too long? Yes. Is this movie a hell of a lot of fun? Why, I'd have to say yes it is, by golly. Worth buying? Maybe not for everyone, but for me, it's a must have. I'd say for any collector of modern Asian cinema, this is definitely up there on the list.

Tadanobu (I have a worse memory for characters than for the real names of the actors or directors. This is true of North American releases, and more true for anything foreign. You would think it would be the other way around, wouldn't you?) ... as I was saying Shark Skin Man is in a bit of trouble with some gangsters that he has double crossed, and Peach Hip Girl wants out of the hotel she works at - to be more specific she wants out of the window of the hotel that she works at - and as fate would have it, the two meet and wind up on the lam together.

Now Shark Skin has to worry about the gangsters on his tail, and these are real funky gangsters, let me tell you. Meanwhile, for reasons not clear at first, her hotel boss pays an effeminate assassin to track them both down, do his dirty deed, bullet-wise, to Sharkskin, whilst bringing Peach back safely to the hotel.

SSM and PHG is shot with a lot of style and energy and that dab of quirkiness that we all love about good Asian cinema. Though not flawless, it is a great ride, especially when you are only paying $$ instead of $$$. Cool movie. I dug it.

Gotta fly. I'm just about to watch Naked Weapon. There are a lot of "naked" and "weapon" movies out there by the way. Naked Killer, Naked Weapon, Naked Poison, Naked Blood, Beautiful Weapon, Beautiful Prey, Beautiful Killing Machine ... lots more. Anyway, I've seen Naked Weapon before and I loved it, but now that I'm reviewing stuff, I have to see it again so I can remember everything. Everything but the character's names, of course. You go watch something as well.

DO NOT BUY THIS FILM IF: You are on a "save the shark from becoming shark skin jackets" crusade; or you have built a time machine and are on one of those "let's take Jerusalem" crusades (unless you remembered to bring your battery powered DVD player with you, and wouldn't you feel stupid if you forgot to bring the movie).

RECOMMENDATION: Lots of stars out of lots. Just for being a fun movie with interesting characters and quirky good times. Recommended.