Lumberjack the Monster review.
Takashi Miike’s latest is an engaging thriller that plays with the concepts of good and evil.
New movie reviews will not contain spoilers.
Lumberjack the Monster
Directed by Takashi Miike
Screenplay by Hiroyoshi Koiwai
Starring Kazuya Kamenashi, Nanao and Riho Yoshioka
Lumberjack the Monster Review
Netflix’s surprise drop of Godzilla Minus One may have made headlines this weekend…but it isn’t the only Japanese import worth watching to drop that day. Takashi Miike (Audition, Ichi the Killer) is back with Lumberjack the Monster. A movie featuring a masked killer hunting down a psychopath. And vice versa. The intriguing set-up provides ample space for Lumberjack the Monster to play with genre tropes. Good and evil have rarely been so hard to define.
Akira Ninomiya (Kazuya Kamenashi) is a psychopath. It explains how he’s quickly climbed to the top of his law firm. On top of a complete lack of conscience…he literally threw his boss off the top of a building. Life is going just fine for Ninomiya until he becomes the target of a masked serial killer. A man who hunts down evil people with a shared secret. A secret that even they don’t know.
The idea of a serial killer who targets bad people isn’t new. I’m fairly certain it is the plot of Dexter…though I’ve never seen so much of an episode of it. Given that Dexter is (probably) from the point of view of the serial killer…I can safely assume that Lumberjack the Monster is taking a different perspective on the material. Ninomiya is our main character. It’s his investigation into the masked killer that we follow. All the while the police are investigating him (while running a parallel investigation of their own).
It creates an interesting viewing dynamic. The “hero” of the piece is a man we watch casually cut the throat of someone following him. He definitely fits the description of someone a masked avenger would target. There is, of course, a lot more to it than that. Ninomiya discovers that there is an old neuro chip in his head. The same one that other victims of the brain removing murderer had. Each victim was raised in orphanages. Each victim was a psychopath.
Lumberjack the Monster is a mystery inside of a mystery. Who is this masked man? Why does he target people connected by a secret none of them knew about? The answers are intertwined. And…truth be told…once you get far enough down the road on understanding the latter…the former becomes a little obvious. But the whodunnit isn’t the interesting part of the story. Our psychopath’s chip is damaged when the masked man attacks him. It leads to a fascinating change in the man himself. Lumberjack the Monster has a lot to say about the nature of evil. And how the deeds committed haunt you.
Lumberjack the Monster is a more cerebral thriller than a gorefest. There are some effectively bloody moments, of course…but the movie is more about the investigation than the actions. Ninomiya needs to find this masked serial killer before the police do. He knows of Ninomiya’s actions. Actions that include the murder of his boss (and father of his fiancé, Emi (Riho Yoshioka)). Profiler Toshiro (Nanao) leads the police investigation into the masked man. She quickly deduces that Ninomiya is not what he appears to be. Three parties each following the other.
The opening scene in Lumberjack the Monster introduces us to key information that we won’t understand until later. Police storm a building and find a couple experimenting on children. Though the backstory won’t be revealed until later in the film…it sets an appropriate tone that Lumberjack the Monster maintains throughout. Obviously, Ninomiya is connected to the case. Is he the only one?
A few other colorful characters round out the cast of Lumberjack the Monster. A somewhat disgraced detective. A doctor who experiments on animals. Another psychopath and murder suspect. Everyone is tied together by whatever is sending the masked man after Ninomiya. Lumberjack the Monster is a strong thriller without the additional effort put into the shifting morals surrounding the killer and his potential victim. Ninomiya must learn the truth about the chip in his head…and why he’s starting to feel more normal after it malfunctions. All while surviving axe attacks and staying two steps ahead of the police. The world is constantly closing in on him. A world he seems no longer equipped to deal with.
Scare Value
Lumberjack the Monster‘s investigation is full of fun reveals. Placing us in the perspective of a man with no conscious…fighting for his life, no less…is a bold choice. Discovering why the killer is after him…and how it ties into his identity…is compelling to watch. The cast is terrific. The movie looks great. It’s an interesting story told in an exciting way. Lumberjack the Monster may not be Godzilla Minus One…but it is another reason to appreciate Netflix’s Japanese import section.
3.5/5
Lumberjack the Monster Link
Streaming on Netflix
