This formula may sound appealing to many of the following: -hiphop tunes (soundtrack by RZA himself); -ancient Japanese little philosophies of the Samurai ways; -gangsters vs lone black hit-man; -slow paced, off key, indie style of filming.
But there is not much happening in this film. Gangsters are being depicted as total losers, watching cartoons and not even being able to pay the rent. Ghost Dog is a lonely hit-man that is professional and methodical and lives by a Samurai code ever since he was saved by one of the gangsters, to be his retainer. For some reason the gangsters want to kill him after a job he did (first he was ordered to kill a gangster but now they're angry about the killing...it didn't make sense to me). From then on, he decides to get rid of the gangsters, however he can't kill his former savior because of the loyalty demanded by the samurai code.
This may seem like an interesting story with plenty of conflict but it was rather boring. There was a total lack of suspense. The film just showed him at work like it was your ordinary boring day at the office. The ending didn't immediately make sense but the clash between conflicting codes eplains a bit.
What is likable is how Ghost Dog connects with the little girl and the ice cream vendor (who doesn't know a word of English), but these are not the main elements of the film. The quotes used from the samurai code seem at times to be inserted merely for their coolness factor rather than always adding something, but there are occasions where they fit very well.
I would have liked the film more if the gangsters had been more real and more frightening. Also Ghost Dog should have been a little bit less invincible. Heavyweight Forest Whitaker walks around shooting guns like it's a day at the park.
Overall this is an overrated, formulaic Indie film. Not too terrible but not great.
But there is not much happening in this film. Gangsters are being depicted as total losers, watching cartoons and not even being able to pay the rent. Ghost Dog is a lonely hit-man that is professional and methodical and lives by a Samurai code ever since he was saved by one of the gangsters, to be his retainer. For some reason the gangsters want to kill him after a job he did (first he was ordered to kill a gangster but now they're angry about the killing...it didn't make sense to me). From then on, he decides to get rid of the gangsters, however he can't kill his former savior because of the loyalty demanded by the samurai code.
This may seem like an interesting story with plenty of conflict but it was rather boring. There was a total lack of suspense. The film just showed him at work like it was your ordinary boring day at the office. The ending didn't immediately make sense but the clash between conflicting codes eplains a bit.
What is likable is how Ghost Dog connects with the little girl and the ice cream vendor (who doesn't know a word of English), but these are not the main elements of the film. The quotes used from the samurai code seem at times to be inserted merely for their coolness factor rather than always adding something, but there are occasions where they fit very well.
I would have liked the film more if the gangsters had been more real and more frightening. Also Ghost Dog should have been a little bit less invincible. Heavyweight Forest Whitaker walks around shooting guns like it's a day at the park.
Overall this is an overrated, formulaic Indie film. Not too terrible but not great.