3 out of 5

Director: Takashi Miike

This was going to jump right up to five stars… until the second half of the movie comes into play. Young Thugs follows a group of high school friends through some young adult happenings. The main thrust of the story focuses on one couple from these friends, and how the male’s violent tendencies and need for thrill impact those around him and close to him. And through this it studies that Miike theme of friends and family. The movie is split into two portions – Side A and Side B, with the former focusing on the female’s telling of the beginning and end of the relationship, and Side B the male’s view on the aftermath. Side A is masterful. Editing, pacing, music, the shots – all are captivating. I could not stop watching the film. The violence and spots of humor gel perfectly. There is a brief and amusing surreal bit, and then the film goes into Side B. Perhaps purposeful, but Side B gets choppy and cheesy. Everything changes, but not overtly enough to make it seem like Miike was trying to prove a point, more just (as usual) experimenting. It’s still a satisfying conclusion to the overall story, but the abrupt change in flow mars the watchability of the film, and – as can be seen in my rating – drops this down to a mediocre level. Still, this is good Miike fare, with many, many moments (mostly in the first half of the film) that resonate with some of his best emotional scenes.