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RATING:  
SINGAPORE : Based on Fukumoto Nobuyuki's hit manga series which has sold more than 11 million copies, Fujiwara Tatsuya (Light of "Death Note" fame) is the titular "Kaiji" who never quite seems to find steady employment thanks to his eccentricity and penchant for cheap pranks, gambling and your usual vices.
He suddenly finds himself embroiled in a deadly gambling competition aboard a very special cruise ship after a shadowy loan company informs him he is responsible for a loan taken by his friend (who has since gone missing).
It is a chance to gamble off the debt and try to strike it rich at the same time ... but of course, there is more than money at stake.
Japan's proclivity for making feature films out of their most popular manga seems to work in most cases, and thankfully, "Kaiji" is one of them. Perhaps it is the chemistry of co-stars Fujiwara and Matsuyama Kenichi reuniting to work together for the first time since their "Death Note" foray.
Die hard fans have reportedly complained of how Fujiwara doesn't look enough like his anime character, but his pretty face and mischievous eyes do strangely well to carry him through the film.
Or maybe a fancy gambling card trick or ten dreamt up simply to outsmart those unsavoury hoodlums is enough to hook in audiences, especially with the IR up and running, hitting almost too close to home.
Or maybe, just maybe, one manages to delve deeper and recognise the film's sombre stark analogy about the neverending struggle to survive in the real world, questioning existential notions on us humans caught up in a materialistic world. Maybe.
Overall, whether you choose to see this as an indictment of a modern day materialistic lifestyle or just an indifferent ride about the perils of gambling really doesn't matter. We already know we're all slaves to money so just sit back and enjoy this Kafkaesque ride.
- TODAY/il
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