Watching Agitator, there’s very little if anything that offers itself as a Miike Takashi film. It feels more like a traditional Yakuza film, from the likes of Fukasuku than Takashi. The type of violence and brotherhood displayed is typical of his films, but certainly offers a different glimpse into Takashi’s flexibility of film making.

The story is pretty typical, involving two groups the Yokozino and the Shirane who are at loggerheads with each other. A third group in the form of the Tenseikai wants to take over both groups to build a larger group in the district. The ruthless head of this group suggests that Shirane kill its head, and in its place he will vouch for the perpetrator to become the head of that group, the same would be true or similar of the Yokozino group who’s boss is eliminated by the Tenseikai group in order to expedite matters. It gets complicated, as you can imagine as you try to keep up with the different groups, who’s defected, who’s betraying who and so on and so forth.

Agitator is not a great Yakuza film. I’m not saying it’s bad, but it’s been done before, and it’s been done better by others, and there’s certainly nothing special about the film at all. There is a bond of brotherhood, as is the case with most Yakuza films, where each goes out of his way to protect his “younger brothers”, but again this is rather typical fare for a film of this genre.

So what sets the film apart from the saturated Yakuza genre? Nothing, and that’s probably it’s biggest concern. It hasn’t aged particularly well, but there’s nothing modern about it and in fact seems to hark back to the traditional methods of criminality of accepted thuggish behaviour. Perhaps that’s what Takashi was trying to tap into: primal instinct. If that’s the case, then it works well enough, but again nothing we haven’t seen a million times before.

The characters are engaging, the story is interweaved with a pointless and irrelevant romantic element which doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. The plot is so common that it could be any gangster film, and in fact that’s where Agitator will remain. With nothing to seperate thef ilm apart from its brethern, there is nothing to recommend this film. Just because it’s got Takashi stamp of approval doesn’t make it good. I never found it dull or tired, but it all seem so predictable, probably due to having seen so many films of this time.

For a mix of old and new, I would suggest watching Kyouki no Sakura which is a visually powerful film that offers the traditional Yakuza element, but with more guts, punch and energy than this average affair can offer. I can’t even recommend this above something like Kitano’s Brother (which most dislike, but I found entertaining) where the overall film is better than the sum of its parts. Agitator falls short of being good, and is certainly fit for TV but nothing more. I wouldn’t recommend renting this, nor buying it. It might be worth a borrow, but you can easily find a better film.

Verdict: Average compared to similar films. Not Takashi’s best. Fine if on TV, otherwise don’t seek it out.