Nathan's review: Hiroshima, 1959. Yamamori family member Maki (Bunta Sugawara), is paroled after murdering a rival Boss and heads to Nagoya with a handful of young members. There he quickly becomes embroiled in the Yamamori family infighting as his brother Aoki (Tomisaburo Wakayama) clashes with the Yamamori Boss (Nobuo Kaneko) over leadership. Kinji Fukasaku returns to the world of Hiroshima Yakuza after the success of his seminal Battles pentalogy with a new story set in the same world. Often dismissed semi-unfairly as a mere remake/rehash, there's no doubt that as much as the film is a cash grab on Toei's behalf, at the same time it's still an engaging and entertaining slice of Jitsuroku mayhem. While New Battles treads similar ground as it's remarkable predecessors, it's simplistic narrative is a strength in so much as it's easy to follow storyline makes it a solid starting place for those new to the series and/or genre as a whole. The depth and nuance i...

  Nathan's review: Hwan (Lee Min-ki), an ex pro Baseball player riddled with debt and out of work due to match fixing, finds himself making an impression on Busan crime boss Jung Sang-ha (Park Sung-woong) after a brawl in a gambling hall. Joining the syndicate, he soon rises in the ranks making a name off the back of his fighting skill and talent for illegal sports betting. But the higher he rises, the murkier the allegiances around him become and the release from prison of a legendary Busan gangster threatens to bring the empire crashing down. Park Sun-jun's gangland epic never really got the attention it deserves. From its bloodsoaked opening that sees rival gangs go at it in a stunning midnight office raid as men viciously stab each other in the stomach repeatedly in a whirlwind of extreme violence, to its endless parade of sharp suits, growling Busan dialect and power plays, it's clear that Park wasn't out to reinvent the wheel, but rather to deftly handle genre ele...