Like me, I’m sure you read the title and rolled your eyes. Yes, another Bad Lieutenant movie. However, something changed when I read it was being directed by Takashi Miike.
Most of the time, when you see a reboot, redo, re-whatever-they-call-it, you think the worst. But this is from the director of Audition and Ichi the Killer; that puts an interesting twist on things. I know he’s not everyone’s cuppa, but the man makes some, umm, weird movies.
Bad Lieutenant: Tokyo stars Shun Oguri, Gionna Daddio, Liv Morgan, and Lily James. James seems like an odd choice, but I guess she knew what she was getting into. Miike will direct, with the screenplay completed by Daisuke Tengan, who’s worked with Miike before. The story:
A gambling-addicted Tokyo cop and an FBI agent search for a missing politician’s daughter, while a mysterious killer lurks in the criminal underworld, watching their every move.
Bad Lieutenant seems to now be a franchise. Abel Ferrara directed the original movie from 1992, starring Harvey Keitel. He played, well, a bad lieutenant who was corrupt, drug-addicted, and also suffering a crisis of faith.
Werner Herzog directed a sequel in 2009, starring Nick Cage; Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans. There was no real connection between the two, but they had the same title; that’s something. In fact, Ferrara said about the movie that he hoped both Cage and Herzog “die in hell”. So, not a fan. Although, years later, he and Herzog got over it and buried the hatchet.
I’m pretty sure Bad Lieutenant: Tokyo won’t be a romantic comedy or rated PG-13. If you want to know why, watch Audition. It’s due for a premiere in Sept at the Toronto International Film Festival.
