Gun Woman Review

Disclaimer: Contains spoilers!

Plot Summary: While fleeing from a hit, an assassin regales his wheelman about the tale of a druggy prostitute turned assassin known simply as the gun woman.

Review: You can probably tell whether you're going to like this or not just by the poster. If you're looking for gratuitous amounts of blood, nudity, and zany antics, this film has got you covered from the very start. I mean, the opening scene alone is some chick in the shower taking a bullet to the brain. Sadly, they do not deliver the kind of action you'd hope especially given that title of "Gun Woman." The thing that interested me most was the production being another example of East meets West--this created a unique combination of exploitation and over the top carnage. However, the primary problem is the ridiculously slow pacing that forces the viewer to slog through a good portion of the film. The payoff is there at the end--this is true--but I don't know if it will be satisfying enough; it sure wasn't enough for me to say I liked this movie.

In essence, I suspect someone imagined the core plot where a chick had gun parts implanted in her body, and then a script was written around that concept. For the most part, this idea is acceptable in theory. Unfortunately, far, far too much of the running time is wasted during the preparation for the assassination rather than actually delivering on it. They include a cornball training montage so you'd think that would be good enough, but, nope, it continues on significantly longer. I understand that they wanted to establish why the gun woman, Mayumi, would become loyal to the doctor that trains her yet the motivations still felt flimsy. Making matters worse is that the film starts to take itself a bit too seriously when it should have fully embraced the over the top premise and ran with it. The other detractor is that things that should be pander points, like the gore and nudity, come off as more gross than titillating. Brace yourself, I'm about to compare another movie to "The Machine Girl!" BUT...both of these films did star Asami Sugiura (usually going by the name "Asami") so the comparison is all the more relevant. Anyway, Asami is, once again, no Minase Yashiro and the action is nowhere near as entertaining. Maybe I just want every movie similar to this one to take notes from "The Machine Girl?"

Now this isn't to say the film has no redeeming qualities. Obviously others might like some of the aspects I'm criticizing, but, beyond that, there are legitimate positives. Going back to Asami, she does play the role completely straight which helps the tone of the film. I did like the blend of heist meets revenge flick--somehow this meshed cohesively. The ending in particular is a major highlight as it successfully brings the story full circle in a meaningful way. The revelation regarding the first chick to die, the motivation of the first assassin, and the identity of the wheelman...these things helped enhance the final impression. Of course, having an ending theme song based on the film's title is an automatic, freebie half-point!

Had the second act been drastically shortened, and that running time added to the actual revenge scenes, this would have taken the film above the mere average range. As it stands, I'd classify the merits of this movie toward mediocrity when the potential to be fun was right there...squandered. If Asami is your kind of girl then she will have you covered with plenty of nudity, but she's not doing it for me whatsoever. Even the gunplay was lacking considering this is a film called "Gun Woman" for fuck's sake! Overall, you're going to get exactly what you expect here, however, if you're anticipating anything exceptional to occur, you will be sorely disappointed.

Notable Moment: At the end when everything comes together regarding the wheelman and who was the first chick shot. Also, the humorous nature of who hired the wheelman is the kind of humor that should have been present all movie long!

Final Rating: 5/10