Bullet Points: Darc
One of the things that makes 2018’s Darc so fun to watch is going into the movie with little to no expectations when it comes to its star Tony Schiena. I consider myself something of an expert on the action genre and even I wasn’t familiar with his work. That meant that I didn’t come into it with the same preconceptions that I would have had if it had been Jean Claude Van Damme or Steven Seagal on the poster. That doesn’t always turn out to be a good thing but it certainly worked out here.
Synopsis: To bring down a global human trafficking ring, an Interpol agent recruits the help of a brutal criminal with inside knowledge of the yakuza.
- Comic Book Origin: Superheroes in comics always have a horribly tragic beginning. Rarely are they ever just granted powers and decide to do good. It’s usually because someone’s entire family is massacred or, more often, the granting of their powers is connected to their tragedy. The eight year old kid that we meet living in a brothel in Japan with his prostitute mother is the boy who would become Darc. It’s not his real name, but the name of his favorite comic hero and the embodiment of the awesomeness that is about to put a major dent in the human trafficking wing of the Yakuza.
- Out of the Clink: We’re offered glimpses into what happened to Darc and his mother at the hands of the Yakuza but it’s the grown up and grizzled Darc that we meet next. He’s pulled out of prison on early release by an Interpol agent named Lafique (Armand Assante). He wants to use Darc to infiltrate the Yakuza (because of his inner knowledge of them) and find his daughter who was abducted and being held for leverage.
- The Plan: What made Lafique think it would be so easy for Darc to get cozy with the Yakuza? Does he not realize that he’s not Japanese? Anyways, Darc moves into his shitty apartment, trims his beard, and gets on with his plan to become a mole in one of the world’s most deadly organizations.
- The Plan in Action: If you really want to get in tight with Yakuza then rescuing the young heir to the local family might be a good way. Darc walks in on a deal gone wrong and uses his fighting skills to beat the ever-loving shit out of some biker dudes. It, of course, impresses the young Shigeru Kageyama (Sho Ikushima) and he becomes a close confidant to the man after again proving his loyalty.
- The Neighbor of my Dreams:
Darc got out of prison early and hit the jackpot when he landed in his
terrible apartment with an incredible neighbor as hot as Ivy Mulligan
(Dawn Olivieri). She is far too good to him. It’s basically the Rebecca Romijn situation from The Punisher. Darc does absolutely nothing for her but she continues to be good to him. The world needs more women like her.
- Earning Money the Hard Way: Of course no one trusts Darc since he shows up and immediately has the ear of the young Shigeru. I mean, who would trust this white dude showing up the way he did and being able to fight the way he does? Darc is running around with Shigeru and helping him kill lots of people. They take out some more bikers, a Triad drug operation, and then end most nights kickin’ it at their swank Japanese night club. It would have been a young Chad’s dream come true. Darc’s first time in the club, however, leads to an awesome fight between him and three of the goons sent to test him to see how good he was.
- Made: Darc still isn’t in the good graces of the Yakuza but he hasn’t shown any reluctance to kill so they accept him. During this entire time Darc is still looking for the daughter of Lafique and even brings in one of the other girls in the club (an obvious trafficked girl) to help him find her. Things quickly spiral out of control as the Yakuza start leaning on Lafique for more information on the new guy in town and things get a bit hairy for the whole crew.
- A Legendary Badass: As time gets short and Lafique’s daughter looks to be in more and more trouble, Darc kicks it into high gear. Most guys would just add one more element to their day but Darc sets in motion a one-man war against the same gang of Yakuza that killed his mother all those years ago. The violence that he inflicts is fantastic! He infiltrates the elder Kageyama’s crib and goes mano-a-lots in an effort to hurt them at the very top.
- Making the Yakuza into Mincemeat: Darc gets a lot done in a very short amount of time. Maybe it was all of those years spent thinking about his dear mother getting killed by the Yakuza but he certainly wastes no time killing the tattooed gangsters when the opportunity presents itself. Swords, guns, and just about everything else becomes a weapon in his hands.
The Verdict: Darc was another film recommendation from BPA friend @ThrashusMaximus and probably my favorite to date. I’ve seen Darc floating around Netflix for a while but I hadn’t managed to watch it until Big Dic Rattlehead gave me a good reason to check it out. It was a great find! Another incredibly interesting thing that came of it was when I looked into the career of star Tony Schiena and found out he is like an action hero in real life as well. Do yourself a favor and watch Darc. You’ll thank us later.
