Kids Return

Following his 1995 brush with death in the form of a motorcycle accident, actor/comedian/writer/director Takeshi Kitano spins this wistful -- if bleak -- tale about a pair of high school buddies and their inevitable slide into adulthood. Bumptious Masaru (Kenichi Kaneko) and his quiet sidekick, ...more

Takeshi Kitano's Kids Return is a fond remembrance of high school shenanigans and a cautionary tale against falling in with the wrong crowd -- a fate that's possible whether following the criminal path of the yakuza, or the lawful path of the boxer. However, a couple aspects of the film (Kitano's first after a serious motorcycle accident) prevent it from being easily received as a straightforward narrative. For starters, Kitano introduces too many characters in the opening minutes, with too ...more