There was a time, not so long ago in fact, when video game adaptations had seemingly been cursed. The act of translating popular games to a cinematic space seemed a near-impossible task, with countless failed attempts at cashing in on successful IP sprinkled throughout the 1990s and 2000s specifically; the Mark Wahlberg-starring Max Payne, the 1993 Super Mario Bros. film, and 2005’s Doom adaptation starring Dwayne Johnson were just a few of the poor excuses for video game movies we were constantly receiving for so many years. But in the past few years, the stigma surrounding video game adaptations has finally been eradicated.
Video Games and Movies Have a Complicated, Intertwined History
Video game adaptations are all the rage these days, spilling out from every corner of both the theatrical and streaming spaces, with dozens more coming down the pipeline, whether it be the impending Mortal Kombat 2 starring Karl Urban or recently announced projects like Wes Ball‘s live-action Legend of Zelda film. Hollywood is fast-tracking adaptations of countless beloved video games in an attempt to strike while the iron is hot, with a mix of positive and negative results. But when we look back on the state of video game adaptations in the 2000s, there’s one movie that often gets overlooked, despite being one of the few that really understood its source material—that being Takashi Miike‘s Yakuza: Like a Dragon.
Initially released in Japan in 2007 before eventually making its way to the United States in 2010, Yakuza: Like a Dragon was an adaptation of the then-new Yakuza game series, whose second entry was released in the very same year. The series didn’t break much ground in the United States but was a huge success in Japan, catching the eye of Japanese filmmaking legend, Takashi Miike, who jumped at the opportunity to make the film. The director, known for influential works such as Audition and Ichi the Killer, was a huge fan of the game and set out to make as faithful an adaptation as possible; and while Yakuza: Like a Dragon isn’t exactly a great film, it does mostly succeed in this regard.
‘Yakuza: Like a Dragon’ Is a Heavily Flawed Yet Faithful Video Game Adaptation
The film follows the general beats of the 2005 game’s story while condensing the game’s events into one long night. Yakuza: Like a Dragon follows the series’ protagonist, Kazama Kiryu (Kazuki Kitamura), a legendary yakuza who gets drawn into a mystery surrounding the disappearance of the Tojo Clan’s ten million yen bank deposit and the search for a young woman who may have the answers, all the while being pursued by rival yakuza leader, Goro Majima (Goro Kishitani). The film isn’t a one-to-one adaptation, but in comparison to most game adaptations of the time, Yakuza: Like a Dragon does a decent job in keeping with the narrative of the game.
Every die-hard Yakuza fan (of which I am one) knows that, while the series can often be dark and deeply moving, the Yakuza series is at its most memorable when it’s being absolutely off-the-walls bonkers, and Takashi Miike does a great job capturing the quirky insanity of Yakuza‘s Kamurocho here, especially for a film going off of only one game, as opposed to Prime Video’s disappointing Like a Dragon: Yakuza, a streaming series that actively rejected the flashy and bizarre side of Yakuza‘s identity. Looking past its status as a video game adaptation, this is a far more visually striking picture than your average movie about the Yakuza. All this is to say that the distinct identity and personality of the series are largely retained in Miike’s film.
But while it does capture the energy of the game well, the miscasting of protagonist Kiryu does hurt the film quite a bit. In the games, Kiryu is an endlessly fascinating and endearing character with a lot of personality and depth to peel back, but Kazuki Kitamura’s take on the character is an often dry, witless version of one of gaming’s most iconic leading men. But on the flip side, Goro Kishitani’s Majima is about as perfect as they come, with Kishitani fully leaning into the absurdity and unpredictable nature of Kiryu’s rival—the scene where Majima looks around a corner with his eyepatch eye never fails to incite laughter. If nothing else, Majima is the reason to watch this film, because, for all its strange pacing issues and tonal inconsistencies, he is the one bright spot, always entertaining when he’s on screen.
‘Yakuza: Like a Dragon’ Is the Best Video Game Movie You Can’t Watch
The unfortunate news for Yakuza wishing to stream Yakuza: Like a Dragon is that Takashi Miike’s film isn’t available to stream anywhere. You can’t rent or purchase the film on any streaming platform, nor buy a DVD copy—unless you’re willing to scour the depths of eBay and the internet at large—making it unavailable for legal viewing. This is a sad fate for a film that, while flawed and not a perfect adaptation, did get closer to capturing the essence of its source material than most films of the time, especially when it came to American productions.
Considering Sega’s recent success with the Sonic the Hedgehog trilogy, it would be great to see them take another crack at the wild and flashy world of Yakuza. The Prime Video series may have been an attempt at translating this iconic series into a cinematic template, but its efforts were middling to say the least, lacking much of the soul and identity that gives this amazing series its reputation. Perhaps someday there will be a great Yakuza adaptation, but for now, Takashi Miike’s 2007 film will do—that is, if you can find a copy.
