Any thoughts on Alive

[Dr. Whom]

Alive is what Ryuhei Kitamura did in between Versus and Azumi. I'm not sure what to think of it. The first half is based on claustrofobic suspense, while in the second part all hell breaks loose and the bodycount goes up appreciably (not many characters survive this movie). Visually it tries to out matrix Matrix at times, while the overall style is very dark, with desaturated greenish hues and cunningly placed lights everywhere (the credits mention a separate lighting director, who really pulled out all the stops).

Plot and characterwise, there are twists and twists within twists, while the main characters brood a lot about the right course of action. All very Japanese.

Still, it somehow doesn't convince me.

Any thoughts?