When I made my first appearance to the Toronto Film Festival back in 2002, I caught a screening of Takashi Miike’s Zebraman. It was a loud and energetic and was more clever the half of the other films I caught that year. It was an intentional cult film with the likeness of Godzilla and Power Rangers. It was my first time seeing a Miike film with other Miike fans. The film seemed to feed off of the audience. It was astounding. Sukiyaki Western Django is no different. It’s loud, violent, beautiful, funny and in every way a Miike film.

The film opens in a brilliantly designed set with colorful backdrops adding a comic like atmosphere. Tarantino plays Piringo, a gunslinger toying with a snake’s egg when a group of bandits jump him. He proceeds to tell them about the Battle of Dannoura in 1185. A Japanese twist on the War of the Roses. Accents are put on and off during the entire prologue. Piringo finishes his story with a bang. Well, a couple of bangs as blood sprays on the painted backdrops of mountains. He cracks the egg, pours it into his Sukiyaki dish, cue the laughter. The title’s swish into screen: Sukiyaki Western Django (obvious Japanese wordplay on Spaghetti Western).

The rest of the film is set hundreds of years after the battle of Dannoura, the 1800’s. We are introduced to the town of Nevada, and upon further investigation, it’s really Nebada since the Japanese have no v sound. In comes the man with no name, and I call it that because the story is basically the same as Fistful of Dollars with samurai twists, which actually is Yojimba. The man with no name (Hideaki Ito) is pinned between the Heike (red) and Genji (white) clans where he apparently has to make up his mind as to which clan he should join, both of which are in Nebada for the prosperous gold which it holds. In comes young Heihachi, a half Genji half Heike child whose father was slain by Heike madman Henry (aka Kiyomori (Koichi Sato)). Heihachi’s grandmother, Ruriko has a secretive past as a natural gunslinger and runs the general goods store. Heihachi’s mother, Shizuka has sworn revenge against the Heike and takes refuge as a dancer for the Genji. The cast seems to enjoy what they are doing and you can see the fun they are having.

What is truly unique is the fact that Miike has all the actors speaking their lines in English, but despite their inability to understand the language, it comes off as challenge in tolerance. But no need to fret for the subtitles allows the film to carry on without it interfering. It’s interesting to see the two cultures of the west and east collide; the sets use both samurai and western themes. The film is frequently funny and the action sequences are phenomenal, including a brilliantly shot and directed scene where the man with no name jumps through a window and onto his horse. Only a few elements are tiresome and boring. There are long pauses of silence, which although allow Miike to work his visual magic, is a pain to sit through due to the 20 minutes of awkward scenes led by Takuyuki Kagawa who plays the clinically insane sheriff. Without those 20 minutes, the film would run at a perfect 100 minutes. The scenes are good and the performance is great, it just feels like it shouldn’t belong. Miike uses a wide array of emotions, colours and sounds to bring a truly fun film for fans to enjoy. He uses a style that embraces the vibrant jokes film portrays. While the film isn’t necessarily a Japanese Django remake, it is a Japanese Django prequel, and the gatling gun is still here. Sukiyaki Western Django is an intentional joke that triumphs, a truly wonderful film that should have you smiling throughout.