Sukiyaki Western Django
Metascore
55 out of 100

Mixed or average reviews - based on 13 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 4 out of 13
  2. Mixed: 8 out of 13
  3. Negative: 1 out of 13
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  1. Salon.com
    Reviewed by: Andrew O'Hehir
    80
    Once you get past the question of why someone would make a movie this artificial in the first place and move on to the answer (purely for the hell of it), Sukiyaki Western Django is a blood-drenched, dynamite, often hilarious and uniquely weird big-screen entertainment.
  2. TV Guide
    Reviewed by: Maitland McDonagh
    75
    The ideal viewer is a Miike fan...You know who you are.
  3. Film Threat
    Reviewed by: Mariko McDonald
    70
    While it is a glossy crowd pleaser, it still has a few typically off the wall, classic Miike touches.
  4. The A.V. Club
    Reviewed by: Sam Adams
    67
    Loses some of its appeal once the novelty of Miike's conceptual shenanigans wears off.
  5. Village Voice
    Reviewed by: Jim Ridley
    60
    This delirious spaghetti eastern could only have come from the boiling brain of Takashi Miike, the prolific Japanese auteur whose spectacularly uneven films account for the lion's share of the past decade's most utterly batshit movie moments.
  6. New York Post
    Reviewed by: V.A. Musetto
    50
    Darkly funny (par for the course with Miike), visually stunning and full of references to other films.
  7. The Globe and Mail (Toronto)
    Reviewed by: Liam Lacey
    50
    In the world of pulp movies, where horror, westerns and Asian exploitation borrow and blend with each other, there's a point where the cross-genre mishmash begins to feel like gobbledegook. That's definitely the case with Sukiyaki Western Django.
  8. Seattle Post-Intelligencer
    Reviewed by: Bill White
    50
    Director Takashi Miike's dish of sukiyaki spaghetti ala Sergio Corbucci is badly seasoned with scraps of reservoir dogs.
  9. The New York Times
    Reviewed by: A.O. Scott
    50
    More often there is a frantic, compulsive quality to the action. Fanboy intoxication with the idea of formal ingenuity too often stands in for the thing itself.
  10. Variety
    Reviewed by: Derek Elley
    50
    Basic joke wears off after five minutes, and many bystanders will start to head out of town. But genre/Asian buffs prepared to ride shotgun for two hours will be rewarded with some classy action sequences and densely accoutred widescreen lensing.
  11. Christian Science Monitor
    Reviewed by: Robert Koehler
    50
    Speaking of Tarantino, who should never be allowed to act under any circumstance, he's cast in a key storytelling role, and it's one indication among many that the whole project is little more than a stunt.
  12. New York Daily News
    Reviewed by: Elizabeth Weitzman
    40
    A lightweight goof that feels a little dashed-off.
  13. Los Angeles Times
    Reviewed by: Kevin Thomas
    30
    Not even a brief appearance by Quentin Tarantino and a ton of references to other movies enlivens the proceedings much.

User Reviews

All reviews »
User Score
6.4 out of 10

Generally favorable reviews- based on 14 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 3 out of 4
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 4
  3. Negative: 1 out of 4
  1. ScottJ.
    10
    This movie is a hyperactive live action anime-manga twist on the Italian Western. Like Alex Cox's "Straight to Hell," this film blends two genres (here, Chanbara/Samurai and the Italian Western) to give us something surreal, shocking, and ironic. The Japanese cast speak English in an almost stereotypical "ESL" way and it comes off like a riff on the crappy dubs Asian movies of the 70s got in the West. Quentin does his bit perfectly and even switches to a stereotypical "white man doing a Japanese accent" for some dialogue. Everything is knowingly artificial and it works - well. A saloon features a Japanese theater stage, where an interpretive dance based on a variety of Asian dance forms is performed; instead of the usual painted backdrop found in old westerns, here we have a painted Japanese screen as backing; katanas fly against six-shooters; the clothes are a hodgepodge of street gang, old west, and samurai; The War of the Roses meets Yojimbo meets Fistful of Dollars. All in all, I am extremely pleased and enjoy the film immensely. Gets more repeat viewing than Kill Bill at my house.… Full Review »
  2. [Anonymous]
    6
    Hmm...miike should stick with horror/shock. i won't go as far as to say tarantino's movies are garbage, as that has nothing to do with this movie because he doesn't direct it. i suppose if i were japanese i would get a kick out of the actors speaking english...but as an american viewer it's a bit muddled. lot's of bits and pieces from other westerns and some awkward comedic relief drag it down. miike's got a flair for style, though.… Full Review »
  3. MikeH
    8
    This movie was hilarious and had me laughing the whole way through!
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