Yellow Dragon’s Village review.
Screambox continues its hot streak with Yellow Dragon’s Village. A wildly entertaining adrenaline-fueled rush through multiple genres. We aren’t going to be able to discuss much about the plot here…but what we can talk about is how crazy movies are fun as hell.
Yellow Dragon’s Village starts streaming exclusively on Screambox February 7, 2023.
New movie reviews will not contain spoilers.
Yellow Dragon’s Village
Directed by Yugo Sakamoto
Screenplay by Yugo Sakamoto
Starring Mizuishi Atomu, Matsumoto Takuya, Ueno Shiori, Ichinose Wataru, Fujiti Itsuki and Ishizuka Shioka
Yellow Dragon’s Village Review
The opening minutes of Yellow Dragon’s Village provide a hint of what’s to come. We see a group of young friends having fun and talking about a camping trip, shown in a found footage style. The frame of the video is cut down to look like it’s being shot a phone. Before long…the picture widens and the movie becomes something else altogether. Yellow Dragon’s Village repeats this concept on a much grander scale later.
When they get a flat tire on the way to their destination, the group finds themselves welcomed into a small village they didn’t know existed. The lifestyle is very different from the fast paced Tokyo life they are used to. Fears that something isn’t right are soon confirmed.
That’s about all I can say about the plot of Yellow Dragon’s Village. You’ll be quick to catch on to what’s about to happen when you follow the characters into the village. The strange customs and the way people are treated immediately tip off that something is wrong here. What you won’t see coming is the speed with which the story progresses. So much happens so quickly that you will be wondering what in the world the movie’s second half is even going to be about. That’s when Yellow Dragon’s Village once again becomes something else altogether.
In basic terms…what it becomes is wildly entertaining. The first half of the movie is a good one on its own. The second half is even better. Yellow Dragon’s Village doesn’t waste a beat on anything. The story moves so rapidly…the violence is so swift…that the entire picture clocks in at barely over an hour. It packs so much into that hour that I wouldn’t change a thing.
We don’t spend a lot of time getting to know the characters before all hell breaks loose. We’ll get to know more about some of them, and their relationships, as the story develops. Yellow Dragon’s Village wisely gives the key characters of the village and the group something to make them stand out. Maybe it’s a weapon. Maybe it’s an article of clothing. Either way the movie doesn’t bog itself down in exposition and character development. It has different aspirations. It wants to be a mile a minute thrill ride full of fun moments. And it succeeds.
It’s also a funny movie. Even in its early stages where the characters are worried that something bad is going to happen…Yellow Dragon’s Village finds moments of levity to ensure that every moment counts for something. It becomes funnier the wilder it gets. And it gets wild pretty damn quick.
To say more about what the village is or what the movie turns into would do a disservice to the fun watch that awaits you. Yellow Dragon’s Village doesn’t just change as it goes…it escalates. Becoming bigger, better and bolder as it flies towards its ending. It earns every laugh and every smile. It earns shock and every gasp. Most importantly…it earns a watch.
Scare Value
Yellow Dragon’s Village wastes no time getting down to business. It then wastes no time turning that business inside out and upside down. There is something here for fans of horror, mayhem, comedy, action…and other genres that would spoil the ride. A ride you should definitely line up for. It may be a short ride…but it packs more punch than most.
4/5
Yellow Dragon’s Village Link
Streaming on Screambox
Yellow Dragon’s Village Trailer
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