Cloud review – bizarre internet action thriller descends into hail of bullets
Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s baffling crime farrago follows a cyber fraudster pursued by an angry gang of disappointed shoppersHere to prove once again that movies about internet crime can so easily unravel into implausible silliness is that otherwise estimable Japanese director Kiyoshi Kurosawa, who has written and directed a bizarre, baffling action thriller based on the (initially interesting) idea of an online retail entrepreneur ripping off his customers and suppliers – who then seek revenge.Masaki Suda plays Ryôsuke, a guy in the rackety business of buying in bulk and selling the items individually online at a retail markup. Some of the things he buys are fake designer items, which he markets as genuine. But some are perfectly legal: collectible action figures and the like which are advertised entirely honestly. At the beginning we see him ruthlessly buying “therapy devices” from a medical business that has gone bust and then exploitatively putting them up for sale. (But wait. Even if we believe in these therapy devices, why doesn’t the embattled business itself just sell them online? It’s not explained.) Continue reading...
