Demon City (2025)
Shinjo has a demon. problem
Brand brand brand new movie today. How new? Just dropped today as far as I know - at least in my region. I was debating what I was gonna do, but this made it easy - an action romp that feels like an anime? Yeah, we’ll postpone all the joke stuff until next week when I’m probably less energetic - tonight we walk into a city of human monsters, tonight we watch Demon City.
This movie is a revenge movie. There it is, plot segment over! Alright, I lied about postponing all the joke stuff - but really at it’s core, that’s what this movie is. A hitman does his last job, and as it goes with pretty much every hitman retiring movie, someone roles up and kills him and his family. Well, except they don’t kill him, and 12 years later he’s still alive but barely there, until a chance happening causes him to cross paths with one of the killers in a hospital. This sparks the demon of rage within the man, effectively igniting a video game level of being able to take damage and keep trucking and turning him into a revenge-focused movie version of the Doom Slayer whose target is just a handful of guys in demon masks instead of actual demons. Prepare for violence, this game of Pokemon is ending with people in pieces.
The actors do a good enough job here, but I don’t feel like I can necessarily sing the praises of them given how straight forward the movie is that they have to work with. We do get some tears and angry faces, determined walking and fine line deliveries - but the movie never really feels like it’s pining for tor the depths of human morality. That said, if the actors are doing what the movie is calling for, then technically in that sense are they not nailing it? It’s not like they do a bad job or anything either, although some of the characters have that very straight-faced blank personality to go with their megalomaniac complex just like all those anime and comics you might have read growing up.
The characters are there, but I would really not expect something in the form of character development here. It doesn’t make it a worse movie - just a lot more targeted. This isn’t John Wick where we are trying to layer and absolute layer of humanity and depth to the main character past his role as an assassin action star, this is more the story of a man dealing with his rage by doing exactly what it wants - to murder the ever living heck out of the people that took his family for them. The people that did it? We only really get to know one of them outside of what they do, and none of them come off as good folks so you aren’t ever in a situation of “no, they should totally be alive because they have redeeming qualities.” If anything, some of them are just made worse when we get a bit more of their criminal dealings - which is usually right before their boss level starts and we get our “hero” to kick the crap out of them. Go in with an action mentality and you’ll have a fine time, go in expecting tons of character depth and you won’t be as happy probably.
Assassins on the roof
On the topic of those action scenes, they are pretty darn good. Sometimes even brutal - usually when it takes a moment to really slow down and sell the oomph of it. There are a few scenes where things progress in a fashion that appears to be clipped a little - for example jumping from one spot to immediately dragging someone across a bar. It’s not too bad and doesn’t keep doing that super often, but I did notice it and wonder how much of it was just deemed unnecessary and cut for runtime pruposes. Still, the action does have plenty of good drawn out fights that don’t overstay their welcome, and occasionally it even pulls a fun new thing that you don’t see to often, like someone battling up a stairwell as we watch from outside the building. The effects work helps support the stuff going on, but it isn’t always 100% mind blowing or anything like that - but it does it’s job fine without taking you out of stuff.
Costumes are pretty modern for the most part, but you do get a little bit of Kabuki in there to go with the demon masks, and various levels of battle damage on the hero as he goes through the movie - including to his attire. It’s another one of those situations where you just don’t even think about the costumes at all, but you can really appreciate the little details like the cuts to the coat when they happen. Props fair well, looking great. The hero’s seemingly favorite meat-cleaver of a weapon is pretty darn gnarly as well, and I always love me a fun new bladed weapon in a movie. Violence has varying degrees of carnage associated, although it’s mostly always just blood and not super detailed gross-out stuff. Some of the blood doesn’t always seem to stick around on the characters all the time though, so I’m not usre how much of that is a continuity thing or how much is me just not noticing it - and it never really matters in those moments either, it’s just me really trying to find something to nitpick.
Audio was great. I mean, balance and line deliveries are good- I’m not sure which of the various languages was the default audio job, and just left it on the English it was set to when I watched it, but I don’t really feel like the deliveries were ever bad. Perhaps typical villain at times, but not bad. Sound effects are all pretty good as well - but the part I really like was the music. It’s a nice blend of rock and roll with some sick guitar solos, but it also manages to fit the more emotional parts of the movie well - to the point that when the subtitles alerted me to getting some “upbeat pop” towards the end I was worried that it was going to bamboozle me at the end before it picked back up with the rock tracks. Some of the more traditional stuff (like the Kabuki parts) are nice as well, fitting what’s up and adding some variety. That being said, the Kabuki part is kind of lost on me as to how exactly it ties in and feels a little bit like a snap-shot Bollywood moment, but that’s probably just me being out of the cultural loop for it more so than it doesn’t make any sense.
If that one scene from American Psycho met with Kabuki theater.
I had fun with this. It did in fact feel a bit like a live action anime, but the only Demon City anime I know of was drastically different than this one so it’s not that - and to be honest, I haven’t really kept up with the medium outside of some of the giant robot stuff. The good news is, you can have fun without any of that as it stands fine on it’s own two legs. It might not be exceptional in all regards, but much like that Netflix City Hunter flick it’s pretty darn entertaining. It has less of the jokes, although it does have a few humorous moments that might just be my own twisted sense of humor. It’s got solid action, good music, it’s well shot and put together, and has a very solid driving force that makes it simple enough for anyone to follow even if they came in half way through. If you have a Netflix subscription (where it’s currently at while I’m writing this) and you like action, check it out.