Girl Boss Revenge (aka: Sukeban) — dvd movie review
Rather than continuing to debate over a catchy introduction, I’ll just jump right in. If you’re reading this article you’re probably familiar with Panik House’s release of Girl Boss Guerilla. If not, no need to worry. Unlike other sukeban series (ie: Delinquent Girl Boss), the films in the Girl Boss series are pretty much stand-alone entities. In similar fashion to Fierce Creatures and A Fish Called Wanda, Girl Boss Revenge sees the entire cast of Girl Boss Guerilla playing completely different characters, while preserving basic setups of rivalries and affiliations.
The fourth film in the Girl Boss series, Girl Boss Revenge sees Miki Sugimoto and Reiko Ike in fine form as Komasa and Maya, two sukeban rivals on the run from the law, staking territory in Tokyo, and doing battle with the local yakuza, whose Turkish Bath business (read: slavery and forced prostitution house) happens to be fueled by kidnapped women from both their gangs. Jam packed with high-kicking tough-girls, gangland brawls, hana-fura gambling, tragic love, comedic sex, dirty tricks, sneaky pickpockets, and all around rebel rousing, the picture maintains an infectious sense of fun and jaw-dropping style throughout its 86-minute runtime. Yup, Norifumi Suzuki (The Street Fighter)’s sukeban are back and, dare I say it, better than ever.
To give you an idea of just how fast paced the picture is, the first few minutes alone see the girls escaping from a prison transport bus, beating up their captors, being chased through a 
dynamite field, and once in town, embarking on a series of scams in the streets and subways of Tokyo. You might think this was just a stream of stock exploitation setups, but there’s actually a decent and recognizably well thought-out logic to the twists, turns, and hurdles put in place by writing team Takayuki Minagawa and Kiyohide Ohara. Many a situation, even those depicted in the breezy first few minutes, have repercussions experienced by characters later in the film, the narrative’s causality and symmetry even extending as far as the film’s opening and closing sequences. Granted, these items are not as deep as you would expect from more intellectual fare, but it does take a degree of visual acuity on the part of the audience to spot them (see: the brief glimpse of an assassin’s face toward the end of the film, conveying an entire side story in split-seconds). And combined with director Norifumi Suzuki’s usual subversive social commentary, it makes for an exceptionally meaty exploitation treat.
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again. Norifumi Suzuki is one of my favorite Japanese directors. I have much love for the other Suzuki’s artsy rebelliousness (I’ll be reviewing his Taisho Trilogy in the coming weeks), but Norifumi’s stylish railing against the establishment, both real and perceived, make his films a bit more fun to re-watch. And then, of course, there’s his style. On purely technical terms, his Girl Boss Revenge is par for the course. Near every shot is perfectly framed, edits are clean, smooth, and completely transparent, and the compositions themselves have a zest and flair found only in the most stylish of comic books. From the swooshing, tilting alley steady-cam capturing a running-gang brawl and playfully flippant camerawork surrounding the character of the amateur pink-film director, this film is pure visual candy.
As mentioned above, pretty pictures aren’t the only thing on Director Norifumi Suzuki’s mind. The targets of Suzuki’s wrath this time around are men and the institutions they lord over, feigning wisdom, honor, integrity, and authority when in fact they possess none. Whether Police, Yakuza, or romantic interest, no man proves anything approaching honorable. Police abandon duty in the face of free sake, Yakuza selfishly dispose of their own in order to make a 
clean getaway, boyfriends of the girls…well, I’ll leave you to find that one out. Even Suzuki himself is at fault, gleefully indulging in not one, but two brief sequences of fetishized rope-torture (both he and Seijun seem to like this). The girls on the other hand, smile in the face of adversity. No problem is too big or too small, and no opportunity to fight for the greater good escapes them, even if that means abandoning grudges and helping a former foe.
Speaking of the girls, Reiko Ike and Miki Sugimoto do an excellent job in this picture. Their fights are on par with their work in Criminal Woman Killing Melody (though sans knives), and Reiko actually sneaks in some decent dramatic performing. The film does, unfortunately, feature some of her Shin-chan singing in the opening sequence, but thankfully it doesn’t last that long. And while I’ve never really been a fan of Miki Sugimoto, her character Komasa, although stereotypical, is one of the coolest I’ve seen her take on. Also worth mentioning is the film’s utterly awesome trumpet-funk soundtrack, which pounds the speakers from the opening scene.
In closing, Girl Boss Revenge is an awesome little exploitation film. If you’ve never seen one of the Girl Boss movies, this is as good a place as any to start. If you’re a fan of pinky violence, or even Norifumi Suzuki himself, you’ll definitely want to pick this up.
The DVD.
Man….that cover is terrible. It makes Reiko Ike look like a slutty mechanic at a brothel/garage, and fails to convey any hint of the tongue-in-cheek fun of the film. But the disc inside the case is not bad. Not bad at all. In fact, near every criticism I had with Delinquent Girl Boss: Blossoming Night Dreams has been met and rectified here. The video is awesome, with no color bleed or disparity in quality throughout the movie’s runtime. The sound is a little scratchy, but given the film, it’s somewhat charming.
This time around Exploitation Digital actually went so far as to include an extra for their pinky violence release, and what a whopper it is: The first (stateside) interview with Norifumi Suzuki. Other bits include a collection of trailers for Exploitation Digital releases, and a teaser trailer for Girl Boss Revenge (not the theatrical trailer).
All in all, I quite liked this disc….. What, do I need to say more? Buy this disc already!
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