A review of "Psycho Gothic Lolita"

Confessions of a Film Junkie: A review of “Psycho Gothic Lolita”

By: Brian Cotnoir

     I have no idea what the hell I just watched.  I mean the title alone is enough to peak interest, but the truth is this 2010 Japanese film has very little of a story, and a ton of random plot points that don’t make much sense to me.  I’m not sure some of the symbolism is lost in translation, but I was very confused for most of this film. So without further adieu here is my review of the film “Psycho Gothic Lolita”.   

     The plot to the film is the following.  A young girl named Yuki is on a quest for vengeance.  A few years back her family was attacked by a group of assassins.  The attack left her mother dead, and her father—who is a Christian Minister—paralyzed.  Now armed only with a lethal parasol Yuki puts on a Gothic Lolita costume and goes around taking vengeance on those who wrong her family.     

Dont Bother looking for logic!

That’s about as much of a plot I could comprehend, but trust me there are a bunch of flaws with this film.  Throughout the film there are way too many unnecessary close-up shots.  It’s like the director stuck the camera right up to the face of all his actors and decided that he would film the entire movie like that, even when nothing’s happening.  For example we get a ton of close up shots early on of one guy just eating noodles.  Later in the film we get more close-up shots of one of the assassins talking on her cell phone with her boyfriend.  So those were pretty distracting/annoying.  Oh not to mention one of the other first shots we get in the film is of two guys at a “Game Club” having sex on a mattress.  What was the point of that you may be wondering?  No clue.  Also, why does Yuki have to dress up like a Gothic Lolita to get her revenge?  And why did the assassins attack her family to begin with?  I haven’t the slightest idea. Yuki is trying to kill the 5 people who were responsible for her moms death, but when she only has one person left to kill, her father—who was aiding her through her vendetta—tells her to stop and that he doesn’t want her to continue with her quest to avenge her mother.  Why does he want her to stop when she’s so closed to finishing?  It doesn’t make any sense!      

      

Our Hero (???) Ladies & Gentlemen

Lady Elle (Pictured Right) was a lot of fun

    Now let’s get to the people Yuki is trying to get vengeance on.  The first person Yuki gets revenge on is a woman who runs a game parlor that’s very similar to The Drake’s arcade in “Hobo with a Shotgun”, where people’s lives are on the line for every game.  She was an okay character.  The second person Yuki get’s revenge on is the old perverted teacher with psychic abilities.  He’s really annoying and very stupid.  The third person Yuki get’s revenge on is a locksmith gone clean.  Yuki saves him from being killed by a street gang known as “Kamikaze”.  After Yuki saves the man he cries and begs Yuki to spare his life, which she doesn’t grant.  He was really whiny and pathetic.  The fourth person Yuki takes vengeance on was my favorite.  She was this really bubbly school girl with a glittery eye-patch, and a pink cell phone built into her gun named Lady Elle.  Lady Elle is pretty much the closest thing you will ever see to a real-live anime character, and was just a lot of fun to watch on screen.  The last person Yuki has to kill is some sword master, and probably the worst actor in this film (and that’s saying something because there were a lot of bad actors in this film).  Long story short, he gets killed, and Yuki has her vengeance. 

    I’m absolutely flabbergasted over this film.  It makes little sense plot wise and it has really bad special effects.  The only thing it really has going for it is a few memorable characters like Yuki, Lady Elle, and “Kamikaze”.  I did not care much for this film, and I think most of you would feel the same.