Peaking as the third (or fourth – or fifth – and final depending on your preference) main act of the High & Low saga, High & Low The Movie 3: Final Mission, at long last brings Cobra face-to-face with heavy-hitting criminal organization, Kuryu Group. The film doesn’t start off right away, but it does flash forward briefly in a key torture scene before its da capo revert to the aftermath of the epic train station battle between S.W.O.R.D. against Doubt and the Mighty Warriors.
Little do the gangs of S.W.O.R.D. know, just as Boss Yoshitatsu (Goro Kishitani) of Kuryu’s Zenshin clan’s arrival offsets a climatic confrontation with Cobra (Takanori Iwata) and the rest of S.W.O.R.D., that Kuryu has already begun its violent campaign against the district, targeting the Rude Boys’ Nameless City as its key demolition target, in order to commence a major casino project. With the gangs all then forced into hiding and unwilling to put his friends in harm’s way, Cobra takes it upon himself to begin a one-man attack, only to be seized and kidnapped by Kuryu’s Boss Ryuichiro (Masaya Kato) of the Katsunari group.
As Cobra fights to hang on for his life, the Amamiya Brothers, Masaki (Takahiro) and Hiroto (Hiroomi Tosaka), after dodging Kuryu’s assassins along with Kohaku (Akira) and Tsukumo (Sho Aoyagi), stumble upon an even more grave revelation centered on a major government cover-up, pertaining to the chemical fallout from a lab built deep in the tunnels of Nameless City. The quartet soon make their move, while Kuryu advances on its destruction of Nameless City, taking its residents hostage, and just as all of S.W.O.R.D. fights to recuperate and regroup amidst Kuryu’s brutal and runious assault, one of its own will make the ultimate sacrifice.
High & Low The Movie 3: Final Mission, definitely throws in a just a few vagueries and plot holes, and so you’re left wondering how those things connect, but the good news is that some of it is suggestive, which makes for a less distracting addendum to consuming the story. The rest is left up to the thrilling action and drama, which this cast especially has down packed, tenfold, and the biggest driver of the action amidst the fisticuffs is Genji (Naoki Kobayashi), lieutenant of Kurosaki group led by Boss Kimitatsu (Koichi Iwaki), and you’ll see Kimitatsu and Cobra trade a bit back and forth a few times in the film. The biggest facet, of course and with the action, is the stand off between Genji, and the Amamiya Brothers; I made it a point in my review of High & Low: The Red Rain, that not seeing a much more bolstered martial arts presence in the finale felt like a departure from my expectations, despite the film being adequate enough for my own tastes, and so to see one of the two most badass protagonists of the High & Low cast take on such an unstoppable killing machine in Genji was certainly rewarding right down to the finishing blow.
There’s no mistaking the level of depth and effort it took to make this franchise the way it is. Hollywood has its Marvel and DC franchises and other territories are following suit and going the superhero route, but you can’t deny the level of aptitude exhibited in bringing an original IP to life, and being able to do so between television, and several feature films. You get cool characters, even cooler shots and cinematography, high drama, and loads of grounded, explosive and hard-hitting action that is right on par with much of what we see in the Fast And Furious franchise, and all in a story that goes from mere gangbuster fights to a culminating battle for justice against the criminally courrpt and powerful, and it’s not without some introspection and self-awareness in the process. Of course, there’s also the matter of the Mighty Warriors and what the “next phase” will be, in addition to just who exactly “Bulge” is…
I still look forward to checking out the televised dramas that setup these movies. Until then, I’ll be moving onto DTC: Yukemuri Junjo Hen from High & Low, followed by High & Low: The Worst as I try to complete my coverage of this film franchise. Click here for my reviews of the films up to this point, and enjoy them right now on Netflix.
