THE MOLE SONG – HONG KONG CAPRICCIO

Anyone who has seen the first part of Takashi Miike’s shrill, pastel-colored adaptation of the hit Manga “The Mole Song,” knows what’s coming: a hugely entertaining melange of slapstick escapades, martial arts fights, massive action set-pieces, and aesthetically challenging costumes, all grouped around the improbable hero Reiji, in his capacity as a talent-free policeman with a particular tendency to sexual accidents – none of which explains why he ends up dangling naked from a flying helicopter at some point. In “Hong Kong Capriccio” Reiji has to infiltrate Tokyo’s toughest yakuza clan. And as though that were not already exciting enough, the clan is in the midst of preparing for a battle against the Chinese “Dragon Skulls,” which is to take place in Hong Kong. As in the preceding film, Takashi Miike takes great pleasure in choreographing the increasingly larger-than-life riotous moments and eventually proves that even a toilet plunger can be a secret weapon in a martial arts duel. As rapidly, wildly and brutally as this entertainment bomber flies past, no one’s hair will be in place after the film as it was before.