DEATH TRANCE (2005)

Long ago, the Goddess of Destruction waged war in the heavens until she was banished to the world below. It is here where she continued her atrocities until a lone warrior defeated her and sealed her within a coffin. The coffin was protected by a temple of warrior monks for thousands of years. That was until the temple was destroyed and the coffin stolen by a single man simply called Grave. Who is this man?  What does he seek? Death Trance is a mixed bag where the narrative is concerned. Apart from Grave himself, we encounter a number of characters who are trying to get their hands on the Goddess of Destruction’s coffin but for some, the reasons are hackneyed if not altogether questionable. While the motivations are clearly defined for most, it still doesn’t seem like the characters are aiming to do anything worth telling a story about.

Death Trance’s setting is somewhere between a period piece and Fist of the North Star. There are fighters of substantial size and questionable aesthetics that operate with the mindset of “see what you want and take it” with the only problem being the fact that Grave isn’t a guy you want to mess with no matter how tough you think you are. The world has plenty of anachronisms such as motorcycles, gun tonfas, gun swords, and even the fashion in some cases. Of course this doesn’t detract from the movie so much as it adds to its unique design.

The action scenes are a major focus of this film. There are many of them and they are all different from the last. From a sword fight that ends with someone getting shot, to a bar brawl with people fighting with Capoeira and gun tonfas, and even a battle in a forest where characters are using anything that’s not nailed down as a weapon. Death Trance gives Tak Sakaguchi free range to display the street fighting techniques that made him a sensation in the first place. While the fights aren’t as impressive as say those in Fatal Contact, they are quite imaginative and it perfectly complements the type of world in which Death Trance is set.

All of the actors and actresses in Death Trance played their parts really well. I was not familiar with Yuki Takeuchi but seeing her play the swordsman Yuri, I am convinced that no one could have played the part better. Yuri is alluring and naturally beautiful but also intelligent, powerful, and extremely cocky, all of which were traits Takeuchi herself had in spades so it was fairly easy to bring that out of Yuri’s character. Leading man Tak Sakaguchi returns to his origins as a Dark Hero in his portrayal of Grave. At the risk of venturing into a character actor, Sakaguchi does a fantastic job as Grave is a character who talks very few times in the movie and may have just two or three paragraphs of dialogue at the most, yet Sakaguchi is able to communicate what kind of character Grave is, and why Grave does what he does using non-verbals such as his body language, facial expressions, even his eyes. Grave has a balance of being a brutal man-child who solves problems with violence but he also has a certain code of honor and is more sensitive to others emotions than one might think, and Sakaguchi did an admirable job at portraying a character that while being similar to his previous character in VERSUS, is still a bit more complex.

Death Trance is a movie that clearly emphasis style over substance. It’s not deep or thought-provoking but I enjoyed it overall. Interesting characters, very good fight scenes, and a catchy soundtrack by Dir en Grey helped smooth out the rougher edges of the film. The only real downside is the cliché sequel set-up but that seems par for the course. Death Trance is not an amazing film, but it is a fun film that won’t disappoint.