City Hunter

Certainly less wacky than the 1993 adaptation of the manga of the same name, but still very much over-the-top, the new City Hunter still plays up the womanizing of private investigator Ryo Saeba (Ryohei Suzuki) and his unlikely partnership with the younger sister (Misato Morita) of his dead partner (Masanobu Andô) who is determined to help him discover the reason behind her brother's murder and the number of odd occurrences around the city which is traced back to a drug manufactured and tested in secret on the homeless including the cat girl and cosplayer (Asuka Hanamura) Ryo was hired to find.

The film plays out the larger than life action that can get cartoonish at times but is certainly more grounded than the Jackie Chan version. The stunts, some of which have been enhanced with CGI, are crazy action movie fodder fans of the genre should enjoy. The film also plays up both Ryo's skill and his one-track mind and perversions, and Kaori's reaction to them, which provide much of the film's humor.

The rest of the cast outside Ryo, Kaori and her brother, and the cosplayer Kurumi aren't much to speak of. The villains are basically interchangeable fodder for Ryo to go through while the brains of the plot isn't ever developed. Fumino Kimura is given a small role as a police officer somewhat friendly to Ryo but her part is mainly to connect plot points more than anything else and ultimately doesn't lead to any memorable interactions. City Hunter is far from a must-see, but it's enjoyable enough even for those unfamiliar with the source material or previous adaptations.

• Title: City Hunter (2024)
• IMDb: link