Director Yukihiko Tsutsumi
Starring Daisuke Fukushima, Kôhei Furukawa, Ryuji Ichiyama, Naoya Kinoshita, Tadashi Ohsumi, Takeshi Sakamoto, Jun’ichi Sakomoto & Isao Takeda
Rated Unclassified 15+
Score 5/6

They have 8 hours to save Japan from nuclear disaster. An unmanned helicopter is captured, and the hijacker threatens to crash it into a nuclear power plant if his demands are not met. An ad hoc task force is assembled to handle the crisis and prevent a disaster, but the helicopter’s inventor has a personal stake in the affair—his son is alone on board the helicopter.

This is the first of five movies that I have chosen to see of the touring Japanese Film Festival while it is on its Canberra leg (at Event Cinemas Manuka) of its national tour. As those of you who regularly read my movie reviews should know that as a whole I don’t really limit myself to one particular genre of movie though when it comes to watching Asian cinema I have a feeling that I have a tendency to watch histroicals more than any other genre within the sphere of Asian Cinema. So with The Big Bee I was dipping my toe into a genre pool that I don’t regularly swim in.
The Big Bee (天空の蜂 Tenkū no Hachi) was directed by Yukihiko Tsutsumi and was based on the novel of the same name by Keigo Higashino. The story for The Big Bee is actually it had my attention from beginning to end and is possibly one of the more creative cinematic terrorist plots that I have seen in recent memory.
Now I have to admit to everybody that sometimes I find it difficult at times to pick up on the subtleties of Japanese actor’s performance when their dialogue is in Japanese. I get the broad outline of their character’s easy enough I just find it’s the finer points of their performance that I might miss out on. But even with this confession of mine you need to see this movie if you get the opportunity to see it. Especially if you are a fan of Action/Thriller movies there are some stunt sequences in this movie that need to be seen.

Editor’s Note: Wheelchair Roof Top Hoist Tip: When parking in parking structures beware of low ceilings