With a serious affinity for geysers of blood, director-cowriter Ishii keeps things moving briskly ... sometimes so frenetically that we aren't quite sure what's going on. But it's sure colourful and energetic! Despite the confusing action sequences, there's a real sense of visual style going on here. And the mythological plot with its two finely focussed central figures keeps things quite gripping. Both are very well-played by the actors, with fine support from an army of quirky characters hovering around the edge of the tale--scavengers, single mothers, priests, bodyguards, blind old men and so on. And big finales don't get much more fiery and apocalyptic than this.