Demon City on Netflix is Japan's answer to John Wick with a dash of Oldboy, and it rocks

Sakata in Demon City holds a large cleaver-like weapon

(Image credit: Netflix)

Let me know if this sounds familiar: A muscle-car-loving gang hitman capable of tearing an army of bodyguards to shreds, and seemingly impervious to bullets, wants to leave the business to have a quiet family life after completing a major hit to bring down a rival gang. But when he loses his family and is attacked at home, and then left for dead, he goes on a murderous rampage of revenge.

Yes, when I say Demon City is Japan's answer to John Wick, I don't just mean it's an action movie full of slick hand-to-hand combat (although it is that). I mean this thing really spends the first 20 minutes sketching a new story around John Wick's outline.

Demon City | Official Trailer | Netflix - YouTube

Watch On

But in its very first scene, it also makes clear what sets it apart in this comparison by adding a lot more blood and dismemberment, and creating its own dramatic goal by having a group of guys in demonic masks collectively attack our anti-hero Sakata – so instead of a hunt for one villain, we know we're going to see our hero collect a load of heads here (probably with masks still attached).

You may like

It further sets itself apart with a 12-year time jump, and a light dusting of political conspiracy to add spice. Whereas John Wick was pulled back in by unlucky circumstances, Sakata is at the center of a storm of betrayal and intrigue – a few of these elements tie into it having a certain air of Park Chan-wook's Oldboy about it too.

But it's far less interesting in being grounded than most similar movies, and is happy to throw the occasional feat of near super-strength into its uniquely and unmissably choreographed fight scenes. If you're a guy employed by the demon leaders, it's like Jason Voorhees is coming for you – an unspeaking, unmoved, undead force of violence.

The stakes here are not "will Sakata make it out of this one alive", but "what the hell is going to happen next… well, I didn't think it would be that".

Five men wear terrifying masks, from the movie Demon City — (Image credit: Netflix)

This is the perfect mark for a movie like this to hit – I'm obviously not worried the main character might die part way through, but I was locked into this movie solidly for its tidy 107-minute run time because I couldn't wait to see what the next big fight scene would be. They're not all as successful at one-upping each other every time as might make it truly one of the best Netflix movies, but it really works for me.

At times, the cause-and-effect, Rube-Goldberg-esque choreography almost feels comedic – not because it's poor or overly silly, but because you're used to seeing something like this in a Jackie Chan movie. The cheesy electric guitar soundtrack kind of helps to maintain this sometimes OTT tone – it'd be wrong in most movies, but it's all mixed in the right proportions here.

I mean, there are clearly flaws here – it's lacking in character depth; obviously there's an upper limit to how much emotional investment you'll make in a movie where the stakes are most "what wild thing will happen next"; the last fight is maybe the weakest and slightly outstays its welcome (though certainly has its moments) – but I had a great time, and it's easy to have any concerns washed away by a banger of a final scene that subverts the sequel tease you expect from every movie these days.

But as a fun, brutal, tight action movie for a long weekend? I had a blast.

Matt is TechRadar's Managing Editor for Entertainment, meaning he's in charge of persuading our team of writers and reviewers to watch the latest TV shows and movies on gorgeous TVs and listen to fantastic speakers and headphones. It's a tough task, as you can imagine. Matt has over a decade of experience in tech publishing, and previously ran the TV & audio coverage for our colleagues at T3.com, and before that he edited T3 magazine. During his career, he's also contributed to places as varied as Creative Bloq, PC Gamer, PetsRadar, MacLife, and Edge. TV and movie nerdism is his speciality, and he goes to the cinema three times a week. He's always happy to explain the virtues of Dolby Vision over a drink, but he might need to use props, like he's explaining the offside rule.