''Yakuza Princess'' is a 2021 Brazilian action thriller film directed by Vicente Amorim, with an screenplay by Amorim, Fernando Toste, Kimi Lee and Tubaldini Shelling, based on the graphic novel ''Samurai Shiro'' by Danilo Beyruth. The film stars Masumi, Jonathan Rhys Meyers,

Tsuyoshi Ihara is a Japanese actor, martial artist, and writer of Korean descent. Biography Ihara is a Japanese person of Korean descent, born on November 6, 1963, in Kitakyūshū as Yun Yu-gu (윤유구/尹惟久) and who grew up in Ikuno-ku, Osaka. He is a ...

Eijiro Ozaki Eijiro Ozaki (尾崎英二郎) is a Japanese actor. To English-speaking audiences he is known for playing Lieutenant Okubo in ''Letters from Iwo Jima'', Kaito Nakamura as a younger man in ''Heroes'' Season 2, Masao Kume in ''Little Boy'', and Adm ...

, and Kenny Leu.

Synopsis

The

head A head is the part of an organism which usually includes the ears, brain, forehead, cheeks, chin, eyes, nose, and mouth, each of which aid in various sensory functions such as sight, hearing, smell, and taste. Some very simple animals may ...

of a notorious yakuza syndicate is killed in

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

and his only heir is sent to Brazil as a baby. Twenty years later, living in São Paulo, Akemi (Masumi Tsunoda) discovers that she has inherited half of the yakuza clan and that the other half wants her dead. Takeshi (

), a mobster loyal to the late boss, comes to Brazil to protect her. At the same time, an amnesiac foreigner ( Jonathan Rhys Meyers) wakes up in a hospital and crosses her path. Akemi will start a war and chart her own destiny.

Cast

* Masumi as Akemi * Jonathan Rhys Meyers as Shiro *

as Takeshi *

as Kojiro * Kenny Leu as The Taxi Driver * Mariko Takai as Mrs. Tsugahara *

Charles Paraventi Charles Paraventi (born July 4, 1969) is an American-born Brazilian actor. Biography Paraventi was born in New York City, where he began his career doing magic shows for five years at a Brazilian club. As a child, he participated in several ...

as Armond * Toshiji Takeshima as Chiba * Lucas Oranmian as Perito

Production

In October 2019, it was announced that the singer Masumi will make her big screen debut opposite Jonathan Rhys Meyers in the action film that completed filming in Brazil. On February 10, 2021, it was reported that

XYZ Films XYZ Films is an American film production and sales company founded in 2008 by Aram Tertzakian, Nate Bolotin and Nick Spicer, and is based in Los Angeles. It focuses on international genre films, including '' The Raid: Redemption'', '' The Raid 2'' ...

would sell worldwide rights save Latin America, in the

European Film Market The Berlin International Film Festival (german: Internationale Filmfestspiele Berlin), usually called the Berlinale (), is a major international film festival held annually in Berlin, Germany. Founded in 1951 and originally run in June, the festi ...

, in early March. On April 6, 2021 it was announced that Magnet Releasing has acquired the U.S distribution rights.

Reception

Critical response

According to critic aggregation site Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a critic score of 33% based on 42 review and an audience of 36% based on 50+ reviews with the critics consensus reading; "visually stylish but a narrative non-starter, Yakuza Princess serves as an unhappy reminder that action is rarely a substitute for an interesting story".

References

External links

* * * {{Metacritic film 2021 films 2021 martial arts films 2021 action thriller films Brazilian action thriller films Parkour in film Films based on Brazilian comics Live-action films based on comics 2020s English-language films English-language Brazilian films Japan in non-Japanese culture Works about organized crime in Brazil Yakuza films 2020s Brazilian films