The New York Times
http://movies.nytimes.com/2008/05/23/movies/23mach.html

Movie Review
Machine Girl, The

Retrofitted for Revenge

By JEANNETTE CATSOULIS
Published: May 23, 2008

The Japanese obsession with cavorting ninjas, cunning
hardware and comely young avengers in abbreviated plaid skirts
reaches some kind of climax with "The Machine Girl," a riotous
blend of arterial spray and grindhouse glee.

Playing Ami, a basketball-loving high schooler whose beloved
brother is killed by bullies, the soft-core starlet Minase
Yashiro blazes through the movie like a vengeful hall monitor.
Seeking justice, Ami confronts the parents of the lead bully, who
respond by pan-frying her forearm -- an extremity that will later
be replaced by a machine-gun prosthesis. Like Rose McGowan's
character in "Planet Terror," Ami is retrofitted for revenge.

Written and directed by Noboru Iguchi, "The Machine Girl"
plays to the balcony with schlocky effects (the camera lens
frequently suffers collateral splatter) and visible roots (a
terrifically cheesy 1970s title sequence). As Ami tackles a
bewildering array of adversaries -- including a bunch of bereaved
parents known as the Super Mourner Gang -- faces are flayed and
eyeballs impaled in an escalating rush of inventive
mortifications.

Offering her fans only a teasing glimpse of pristine white
panties, Ms. Yashiro remains aloof from the screenplay's sleazier
moments. Unfortunately the same cannot be said for the movie's
scariest villain, a yakuza mom only Tarantino could love. What
she does with her bra is worth the price of admission alone.

THE MACHINE GIRL

Opens on Friday in Manhattan.

Written (in Japanese, with English subtitles) and directed by
Noboru Iguchi; director of photography, Yasutaka Nagano; edited
by Kenji Tanabe; music by Koh Nakagawa; production designer,
Yasuo Kurosu; visual effects supervisor, Tsuyoshi Kazuno;
produced by Yoko Hayama, Yoshinori Chiba and Satoshi Nakamura;
released by Media Blasters Releasing, Fever Dreams and Tokyo
Shock. At the Two Boots Pioneer Theater, 155 East Third Street,
at Avenue A, East Village. Running time: 1 hour 36 minutes.
This film is not rated.

WITH: Minase Yashiro (Ami Hyuga), Asami (Miki Sugihara), Ryosuke
Kawamura (Yu Hyuga), Nobuhiro Nishihara (Sho Kimura), Kentaro
Shimazu (Mr. Kimura) and Honoka (Mrs. Kimura).

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]