Movie Details
| Title: | Kinjite: Forbidden Subjects | |
| Director: | J. Lee Thompson | |
| Year: | 1989 | |
| Genre: | Cop | |
| Times Seen: | 1 | |
| Last Seen: | 12.29.25 |
Other Movies Seen By This Director (1)
- St. Ives
| Date Viewed | Venue | Note |
| 12.29.25 | Internet | Another hard drive pick, this one I think from Tarantino's book, this movie follows vice cop Charles Bronson as he pursues a pimp that turns out underage prostitutes. He's got a little evil-stares-back-at-you going on and there's a whole subplot of a Japanese businessman who comes to LA has his own dalliances with the titular kinjite: forbidden subjects. This is the type of movie I remember Canon putting out. Largely terrible action, requisite explosions, and enough sex to fill some seats. Bronson I think is basically just making Death Wish movies at this point even when they're not called Death Wish (sort of like Liam Neeson and Jason Statham these days), so you mostly know what you're gonna get. I say "mostly" because Bronson is particularly unhinged here. In the first scene of the movie he busts in on a guy who hired Nicole Eggert and when he refuses to name the pimp he rapes him with a dildo, then goes home and tells his wife "I don't think I'm gonna be able to eat tonight" because the job is getting him down... For a grimy cable Charles Bronson movie this one seems particularly sleazy. It's not very explicit with just a tiny bit of nudity but it deals a lot with underage prostitution which is not pleasant and Bronson's character is also not super redeemable. Bronson the actor is also not terribly committed although that may be a bit harsh. His performance varies from shot to shot, sometimes believable other times maybe reading from a cue card. The guy who plays the pimp does a decent job but his accent is strong and many of the words they give him don't sound natural in his voice. I know I've seen him somewhere... let me look. Ahh, he's been in several things that I've seen but I most recognize him from Arachnophobia where I think he's Julian Sands' assistant that dies in the beginning and serves as food for the spider when his body is shipped to the states. I guess this is most notable for him grabbing that dildo in the first scene but otherwise, honestly, not very good. The subplot with the Japanese guy... SPOILERS The Japanese guy gropes Bronson's daughter on the bus but runs away then later, after his daughter is abducted by the pimp and Bronson finds her (but not before she's been turned out which ultimately causes her to commit suicide) he delivers a thank-you gift and she recognizes him, but doesn't say anything and the movie basically drops it. Maybe he's learned not to dabble in kinjite? or maybe the movie preferred to have Bronson shooting his gun while hanging from a wrecking claw and blowing up a dock's worth of flammable 55-gallon drums. |
