‘First Love’ Review: Takashi Miike Delivers a Violently Hilarious Yakuza Romp

A boxer with a brain tumor, a crooked cop with terrible luck, a screw-up yakuza who’s seen too many movies, a dismembered Chinese gangster who wields a pump-action shotgun with his one remaining arm, a terrified prostitute who’s stalked by a ghost in tighty whities, an unkillable femme fatale who will kick a man to death just for being in her way, and the world’s most wonderful heroin.

Those are just some of the many different ingredients that prolific Japanese auteur Takashi Miike swirls into his frequently sublime new gangster film, a piece of work so feral and full of life that you’d never guess it was (at least) the 90th feature its director has made in the last 30 years.

Even now, after making everything from scarring horror masterpieces (“Audition”) to unwatchable family comedies (“Ninja Kids!!!”), Miike hasn’t lost any of his lust for life,

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