Arisaka

Bataan police officer Mariano is assigned as a convoy escort for a corrupt politician, convicted of drug-related crimes, who has turned state witness and is on their way to give a press conference that could shake the entire Philippine government. Obviously, there are people who don’t want this to happen, and some corrupt cops ambush the convoy. Alone and wounded, the only survivor of the massacre, Mariano is forced to flee into the jungle, the killers hot on her trail, with only her wits, her determination, and an old Japanese rifle to fight with.

I’ve been interested Filipino writer and director Mikhail Red’s films for a little while now. I really liked their Coen Bros-esque crime thriller Birdshot, so I’ve been trying to catch up their other films.

Like Birdshot, Arisaka is also a crime thriller.

This time, it’s more of a straightforward “only good cop against a bunch of corrupt cops that want her dead” flick, all set in the Philippines, mostly along the historical trail of the Bataan Death March. Mariano, the good cop in question, is stuck in pretty familiar game of cat and mouse that eventually comes down to a classic showdown, one where, in the words of Optimus Prime: “One shall stand. One shall fall…” That it all takes place on the historic trail of the Bataan Death March is relevant, as our hero finds an old Japanese Arisaka sniper rifle from World War 2 along the way, and uses it to fight her pursuers with some pretty awesome sniper shots.

This is a pretty brisk little small cast/small budget 90 minute film that gets to the meat of the matter pretty quickly, and like Birdshot, it looks pretty good, and even has a few decent special effects, especially considering it was obviously shot for so little money. Mikhail Red has a great eye, and while their films maybe aren’t what some might call High Art, there’s definitely an effort at some social commentary here, which I always appreciate, and I also I think there’s something to be said for being able to turn out a well-done, good-looking, no-frills basic types of film, and this is definitely a fun, even if very familiar, action film, the exact type of movie that made a whole slew of muscle men in 1980s America super famous.

So, thumbs up.

I think Mikhail Red is a filmmaker to keep an eye on. They make a good movie, and I’m interested in seeing not only more of what they’ve already done, but what they’ll be doing in the future.