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Tokyo ZombieDirected by Sakichi Satô, 2005 By Alyce Wilson The genre flick Tokyo Zombie, by Sakichi Sato, is based on a manga by Yûsaku Hanakuma. It blends a zombie movie, a comedy and a martial arts movie. In this case, the martial arts form was jujitsu, which isn't something you normally see in films, since it involves grappling instead of dramatic punches, kicks and flips. However, since the primary fear with a zombie is getting bit, when the heroes are in close proximity to them as they grapple, it adds to the fear factor. So here it worked. There were plenty of surprises in this film, which made creative use of the various genres. But Sato doesn't stick to any of them strictly. The film flies off in unanticipated directions. Tokyo Zombie plays with genre expectations, with multiple false endings and twists in the plot line. While the story begins as a typical zombie movie, it morphs into a comic romance meets martial arts flick, which reaches resolution in a surrealistic tournament. While many of the jokes are visual, arising from physical humor, other jokes arise from twisting genre conventions. Tokyo Zombie is a B movie that laughs at itself. When done as well as it's done here, the audience laughs along.
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