Tag (Japanese 2015) Review

Disclaimer: Contains spoilers!

Plot Summary: After her friends are killed by a mysterious force, a girl embarks on a strange journey.

Review: What the hell happened here? Rarely have I watched a film that opened up with this much potential only to throw it all away by the end. The audience is only a few minutes into this film when two buses carrying a ton of schoolgirls are severed in half. The bodies...the blood...it's awe-striking. It's as if the director saw "Ghost Ship" and thought, "I can top that." Speaking of which, the director, Sion Sono, is no stranger to killing off large quantities of precious schoolgirls with movies like "Suicide Club" (that I've covered). Unfortunately, the momentum cannot be maintained, and the movie slowly degrades into pretentious nonsense by the time the ending rolls around. In fact, the ending appears to be left intentionally vague just so you wonder about what it could all mean.

Honestly, any interpretation of this film could be viable as we have little to work with. The main girl, Mitsuko, is attacked by this strange force until she finds herself at a school where people claim they know her. Is it all a dream? Is Mitsuko warping across dimensions...time and space? The story tries to be deeper and philosophical but doesn't know how to properly explore the concepts. In fairness, the character "Sur," pondering these ideas, was interesting if not totally wasted. Next thing you know, more schoolgirls are getting killed by their teachers this time around. I have to say, if you ever wanted to see hundreds of schoolgirls die, this movie has you covered 100%. The next thing you know, Mitsuko has become a girl named Keiko, played by ex-AKB48 member, Mariko Shinoda. Keiko is being prepped for a wedding as we start to realize everyone in this world is female. A world full of nothing but Japanese girls you say?! Hmm...

Things make little sense as Mitsuko is still herself within Keiko all the while Keiko is still a separate person. I don't know! After more killings break out at this wedding, with the groom being some kind of pig monster, Keiko transforms into yet another girl, Izumi. Izumi is played by the lovely Erina Mano, another ex-idol singer, who I mentioned was in the movie "Kai-Ki: Tales of Terror from Tokyo" as a film I really want to cover due to it being the final part from the "Tales of Terror" franchise. Anyway, Izumi is running a race with teammates as, you guessed it, more killings break out. The film insists each girl is a separate person yet Mitsuko is the main personality within them or something. They really were not clear at all. Things become further complicated when Mitsuko's friend, who was trying to help all movie long, reveals the only way of escape is to pull wires from her body. Uhh okaaay. After doing this, Mitsuko goes through a doorway and discovers she is a character in a video game...seemingly. An old man is shown to be playing the events of the film in video game format as he explains it's roughly 2184; I could be wrong, but I'm basing this date on his claim that Mitsuko died in 2034 and then about him "waiting" for 150 years. There is something about having the DNA from a handful of girls, but how does that make Mitsuko real magically? Some kind of bio-organic technology? After explaining jackshit, the old man's avatar, I'm guessing, wants to fuck Mitsuko. Instead, she hits him with a pillow and kills herself in the video game. And this accomplishes...stuff...I think. The end?

What the fuck does any of this mean? What, real girls are being used to create video game characters? If the background fodder dies endlessly, how does Mitsuko dying have significance? If the other girls can be resurrected forever, why can't Mitsuko and crew? Why does Mitsuko live through the other characters if they too exist in a way? If this world is post-apocalyptic and women are dead, how would someone have the time and resources to casually create living video games? How come Mitsuko's friends had a form of sentience if they are as disposable as the background fodder? Why is Mitsuko even important at all to the old man? She's awkward-looking as hell, and every other chick would have been a better pick if you're just looking to fuck. What is the significance of "man's world?" Does this mean both worlds are video games? Is everything a video game? Is the old man in a video game? WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR, HUH?! WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?!

Although this movie progressively makes less sense as it goes on, it is exceptionally awesome at the beginning. There are great ideas strewn about even if they aren't fully capitalized on. The cinematography is perfect and enhances the scenes better than the storytelling could accomplish; the music too helps in this regard. There are plenty of cute girls with a ton of fan service if that's a highlight for you; it certainly raised the rating from me. However, the final conclusion is lackluster, nonsensical, and crosses well beyond into the realm of pretentious. I don't mind a movie not spoon-feeding the audience, but there are ways to do it correctly. This was not one of those ways. Overall, this film had an unforgettable opening, intriguing middle, and terrible finale. If endings make it or break it for you, you may hate this movie. However, if you can appreciate the aesthetics and the journey over the destination, I think you will be pleasantly surprised.

Notable Moment: When the bus is suddenly split in half and all of Mitsuko's friends are killed. If you watch enough horror films you kind of sense it coming, but, still, it is a shocking scene.

Final Rating: 6/10