Movie review - One-Percent Warrior (a/k/a One Percenter)

One-Percent Warrior (a/k/a One Percenter) ***1/2 (out of 5) This Japanese martial arts flick has a couple of attractive features. First is the gritty realism of the fight sequences. The other is an unusually clever and twisty plot for this genre. It adds up to yet another praiseworthy export from East Asian countries.

Toshiro (Tak Sakaguchi) is a martial arts action star who is the equivalent of a method actor in dramas. He so hates fantasy elements like wire work, CGI, ramped-up sounds and speed, etc. that he mastered several disciplines and even created couple of his own to fill his movies with realistic combat. He also made himself a dinosaur, with his last big hit 10 years before the events of this tale begin. He’s hired for a supporting role, but clashes with the director and others over their enhancements jazzing up the fights. They try to convince him that these are what today’s audiences demand – spectacle, rather than human-scale offerings. As Damon Wayans’ cynical clown character used to say on In Living Color, “Homey don’t play that!”

Toshiro decides to make his own movie HIS way on a shoestring budget. An old friend gets him exclusive access to an island with an abandoned factory, so he and his protégé go there to scout locations and film what they can with the kid’s cell phone. Unfortunately for them, but fortunately for viewers, the island is anything but deserted. First they find another small crew shooting their own action flick. Then while they’re arguing over rights to use the property, they encounter a vicious gang interrogating a young woman. Toshiro rescues her, but their problems are only beginning. Almost immediately, another crime boss arrives with a horde of minions to force the girl to tell them where her late father stashed a couple of mil worth of drugs. So it’s Toshiro against a seemingly endless stream of heavily-armed henchmen all around the multi-story labyrinthine skeleton of the factory.

Disclosing more of the plot would be a huge disservice. Sakaguchi really is an expert in multiple disciplines, having worked as a street fighter before he became an actor. It shows. After a somewhat slow, talky start, the action escalates into the prolonged adrenaline-pumping experience devotees of the genre are seeking. Performances are competent among the supporting cast, with all the essential characters for such vehicles doing their job, including bits of comic relief from some minor players. I’ve seen Sakaguchi in a half-dozen of his 53 credited films, but none left such a solid impression as to his considerable talents. Any loyal fans of his will be delighted with this outing.

(One-Percent Warrior (a/ka/ One Percenter) on Blu-ray and Digital Formats; and streaming on Hi-YAH! as of 4/5/24)