Negotiator: Mashita Masayoshi (2005) [Film Review]

Negotiator: Mashita Masayoshi; or, The Taking of Shinkansen 123

     He's gone to all this trouble... but demands no money. He just wants to beat you?... So we're supposed to sit here while you two play “match wits”?

After the overwhelming success of Bayside Shakedown: The Movie 2, the production team decided to let the main series rest for a while and they approached the franchise from a different perspective. The result of this was the so-called Odoru Legend series, a set of movies focusing on the individual characters from the realm of Bayside Shakedown. The first such movie was released in May, 2005, and its title was Negotiator: Mashita Masayoshi (also known by the alternative title: Tokyo Subway Panic).

Release Info

Directed by: Katsuyuki Motohiro Starring: Yusuke Santamaria, Susumu Terajima, Jun Kunimura

Language: Japanese Original Title: Koshonin Mashita Masayoshi Runtime: 126 min

 

Synopsis

An unknown terrorist, calling himself “Dangan (Bullet) Liner,” is setting off bombs across Tokyo on Christmas Eve. What is more, he also remotely hijacked a high-tech train called Spider E4-600. Now, the train is speeding through a massive web of subway railways, causing the city’s trains to stop running during the busiest day of the year. As Tokyo Metro is struggling to regain control, the Metropolitan Police Department sends their “first negotiator,” Mashita Masayoshi (Yusuke Santamaria), to the scene. Much to the negotiator’s surprise, the hijacker requested for Mashita specifically, so they could “come out and play on the trains.”

 

Contrary to the two previous Bayside Shakedown movies, Negotiator is not lamenting about the issue of bureaucracy within the police department, but goes straightforwardly with its action plot, putting emphasis on the entertaining factor. In a lot of ways, it reminded me about such classics as TheTalking of Pelham 123 (1974) and The Bullet Train (1975). Similarly to these films, we have a hijacked train, a bomb, and race-against-time theme. Of course, the Odoru writers would not be themselves if they had not stirred the script up a bit. In Negotiator, there are no hostages on the train. In fact, the hijacker’s real motive is not revealed until the last 30 minutes of the picture. Thus, extra points for the suspense.

Nevertheless, the movie is not devoid of humour. Yusuke Santamaria is great at playing a clumsy but lovable goof who Mashita Masayoshi is. What is more, he really manages to carry the picture as the leading character, even in terms of the dramatic sense. The rest of the comedy relief comes from Susuma Terajima as Detective Kijima Jouichirou (he was later given a stand-alone TV movie). Detective Kijima rushes through crowded Tokyo to find the terrorist and, together with the SAT team, also provides some intense sequences. The two actors are the definite highlights of this movie.

 

From the rest of the original Odoru cast, Toshiro Yanagiba and Miki Mizuno appear in minor roles as Superintendent Muroi and Mashita’s beloved Yukino, respectively. Kotaro Koizumi appears as Koike, Mashita’s subordinate. He already played a small part in Bayside Shakedown 2 (2003), but his character will prove essential for the plot of Bayside Shakedown 4: The Final Movie (2012). In addition, a veteran actor Jun Kunimura plays Kataoka, the chief of Tokyo Metro, and has quite a substantial screen time.

 

Speaking about the disadvantages, there are not many. The only thing that really put me off were some hokey CGI shots of the Spider train (you can tell they were really saving the budget), but there are not many of these. Additionally, the character of the Metro PR guy was a bit annoying (Masanori Ishii), but again, not much of him either. Nevertheless, there’s a lot of good stuff in this movie, so I don’t want to complain.

Recommendations

A wonderful addition to the Bayside Shakedown franchise. It lives up to the term of a “spin-off” as it expands upon the side character from the original show and is in continuity with the rest of the series. Even if you don’t like Odoru Daisousasen at all, Negotiator can be easily viewed as a stand-alone movie. You won’t miss out much from the references and still be able to fully enjoy an exciting storyline. Go Mashita!

Overall score: 9/10