Drop(2009)

Rating: 4/6
I will be honest with you. The main reason I watched this movie, was because of all the familiar faces in the trailer. Still, I was stunned by the result. Narimiya Hiroki, previously seen in various high school kid roles in dramas plays the main role of this movie. Mizushima Hiro plays his counterpart of sorts, as another important role. I haven’t really been a big fan of the two, especially not the later of the two, but I’ve seen them quite a bit. There were other familiar faces as well, among them Miyagawa Daisuke and Kamiji Yusuke. I’m awful at remembering names, but there are more.

“Drop” tells the story of a boy named Hiroshi Shinanogawa, who grew up in the 1980s. He became inspired by the Be-Bop High School manga and decided to become a delinquent. Hiroshi dropped out of a private middle school and transferred to a public school There he joins up with a delinquent gang.

The delinquent thing might start to get a bit old, if you’ve seen a certain amount of Japanese drama series. You have a bunch of idiots, and they fight. They don’t really seem to need a good reason. And it’s the same thing with this one, at least in some ways, but there are enough differences to make it good.

First, they are better actors. The feelings get through, and in a way you get more whole characters. Of course the gakusen -age had feelings and all, but these seem more natural, maybe because the cast is older.

Second, the fighting is better. Not just those all-force-in-one-hit punches, but real fighting. Pretty much the whole cast get their asses kicked big time, several times, but only has minor bruises afterwards. That part is kind of silly, but acceptable. Mizushima does a really good job on the fighting part, as he’s supposed to be the violent one. I guess the choreography is good. Even if it’s not martial arts (that’d be misplaced), they use various weapons(bats, metal pipes, other) and tricks. And they can lose.

Third, the movie isn’t all that predictable. Of course, you can predict there will be fighting, but you can’t have just fighting for two hours straight. At least not with this cast. Therefore they have some stuff spread out in between.

One thing I didn’t expect is how the movie suddenly got me emotionally involved. If course I laughed out loud at many points, but even if that’d make the movie good by itself, that’s not all. I was watching the movie when suddenly:
“What th- OH MY FUCKING GOD!” …The movie takes an unexpected twist:O
I shall say no more.

I’d really recommend this movie to those who love the actors, as they do a good job.
I’d also recommend this movie to those who hate the actors, as they occasionally get their ass kicked.
Lastly, I’d recommend it to those wanting a kind of light movie. One with lots of informal language, lots of fighting, and some drama, without making it too predictable and boring.

Trailers: