Notable Cast: Akari Takaishi, Saori Izawa, Atomu
Mizuishi, Tomo Nakai, Mondo Otani, Sosuke Ikematsu, Atsuko Maeda, Kaibashira,
Karuma, Mr. Bunny, Satoshi Kibe
If there was ever an action franchise that I would watch for
eternity, quality be damned, it’s definitely the Baby Assassins series.
While I thoroughly enjoyed both of the first two entries into this strange
mixture of slacker comedy and highly choreographed assassin action, this latest
entry, Baby Assassins 3 (or Baby Assassins: Nice Days, as it was
released in some markets), is perhaps the best of the lot. Not only does it
continue to thread the needle with its two off-kilter genres mashed together,
but there’s an extra layer of nuance and emotional payoff that lifts this above
its predecessors.
In preparation for this film, I rewatched the previous two
entries over the course of a couple of weeks prior. It’s strange that for a
series that has primarily been made by the same creatives, including
writer/director Yugo Sakamoto (who also delivered the highly entertaining
horror action hybrid Yellow Dragon’s Village), this one just feels so
much more cinematic. Not only in its visual stylings, which grow more refined
as the series goes on, but also in the writing. It’s a prime example of a case
where the team behind this series is simply getting better at making these
movies, despite never having had a misstep.