Re:Born is a 2016 Japanese action film directed by Yûji Shimomura and starring Tak Sakaguchi (as TAK∴).^[2] It is about Toshiro, a legendary covert soldier with a mysterious past, who decides to use his supernatural powers to defend what he cares about.

Overview

Toshiro, a former mercenary, confronts a war that moves behind the scenes of everyday life and his remaining mission. While living with a girl named Sachi, Toshiro commits himself to a fierce battle with a number of thugs aiming for himself. These mercenaries are led by Phantom, the boss of the unit he once belonged to, and his former partner warrior Abyss Walker.^[3]

As a feature of this film, the martial art system of Zero Range Combat was used to design the hand-to-hand combat scenes. TAK∴, who is a practitioner of the system, was also the tactical supervisor of the fight design. After training under the martial art's founder Yoshitaka Inagawa for about a year, he learned the unique movement of "wave" and techniques.

The production theme of this work is TAK∴'s return to acting, but at the same time, the director's thought that people with techniques and roles that are not originally exposed can be expressed in the film.

Cast

• Tak Sakaguchi as Toshiro Kuroda (as TAK∴)
• Yura Kondo as Sachi
• Takumi Saitoh as Kenji Makabe
• Hitomi Hasebe as Shizuka Matsumoto
• Mariko Shinoda as Newt
• Masanori Mimoto as Fox
• Hiroko Yashiki as Eagle
• Makoto Sakaguchi as Casper
• Orson Mochizuki as Max
• Kenta as Masaru
• Akio Otsuka as Phantom
• Issei Ishida as Lock
• Saori Izawa as Office Lady Killer
• Masaya Kato as Defence Force Commander
• Yoshitaka Inagawa as Abyss Walker

Release

Re:Born had its world premiere at the 2016 Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival.^[4] The film had its North American premiere at Fantastic Fest in 2016.^[5] It was released in Japan on August 12, 2017 (Heisei 29).

Reception

Mark Schilling (The Japan Times) stated that Sakaguchi is "still a convincingly lethal presence", while noting that the film's plot was similar to a video game wherein the protagonist faces a series of bosses, and that attempts by scriptwriter Benio Saeki to expand on that premise felt forced.^[6]

References

External links

Re:Born at IMDb