Film Review: Baby Assassins 2 Babies (2023) by Yugo Sakamoto

Highly skilled assassins lying in wait and trying to live a normal life have recently been portrayed to commercial success in cinema of late. When it comes to Japanese cinema, two such recent productions that immediately come spring to mind are “The Fable” and “Baby Assassins”. Since the former did get a sequel, which was also well received by the audience, it was only a matter of time that Yugo Sakamoto's action comedy about two young female assassins also got a sequel of its own. Two years since the release of the first and we are back in the world of our awkward but highly skilled pair of killing machines.

Tokyo Uber Blues is screening at Nippon Connection

Since we last saw them fighting and winning against the Yakuza, Mahiro and Chisato have become elite, high-ranking killers within the Guild but most importantly, they have learnt to live with each other and be comfortable in their cohabitating circumstances. Even while doing mundane things like paying bills and insurance though, they can't keep out of trouble, and when the act of intervening in a bank robbery causes them to be suspended temporarily by the Guild, they have to once again get part-time jobs elsewhere for themselves. Problems also lurk in the form of Yuri and Makoto, two part-time assassins who want to go on a full-time contract with the Guild. When they find out that there is no vacancy for full-timers, their handler suggests that they take out two full-time workers that operate close by, who just happens to be our baby assassins.

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You know you're watching a different feature but very much in the same universe right from the opening scene. Where the first one began with a pretty impressive, precisely executed fight sequence featuring Mahiro, “2 Babies” too opens on an action piece, only this time a rather chaotic and messy one which introduces us to Yuri and Makoto, who're eager but clearly not in the same league as our leads. Gone are the rather extravagant yakuza antagonists and this time, you have two very likeable ones in the two male assassins. This provides for interesting human dynamics, because in any other feature, one might easily find themselves rooting for these two instead. Even here, there are a number of moments where the audience cannot help but do so. A number of moments that humanize these characters, not least Makoto's pursuit of the restaurant waitress, which only help in further endearing these characters to the audience, bolstered further by Joey Iwanaga and Tatsuomi Hamada's engaging performances.

That doesn't mean that the original baby assassins are sidelined at all. On the contrary, it's refreshing to see the changed equation between the two, with both being much more comfortable in the other's company. Few issues do arise here and there, and thankfully so, because it facilitates for a very fun action sequence between costumed mascots. As with the first entry, Sakamoto's expertise with directing action is once again on full display. If the one complaint previously was a lack of a healthy number of action scenes, Sakamoto satiates here by adding a number of impressive moments that stand out, including the mascot fight between Mahiro and Chisato, culminating yet again in a truly glorious hand-to-hand combat scene involving Mahiro.

Since their first outing, it has been evident that Saori Izawa is the better action star between her and Akari Takaishi, with her Mahiro taking part in the more elaborate fight scenes, and Sakamoto once again opts for the same, only this time also giving us a look at her genuinely impressive punching skills in a few training sequences in the character's downtime. The climactic brawl between her and Joey Iwanaga's Yuri especially is terrific and will leave you wanting more. Takaishi has her moments too, of course, and Sakamoto does well to disguise her shortcomings, along with those of Tatsuomi Hamada as Makoto, within the narrative. Viewers who didn't quite sweeten up to Takaishi's flamboyant mannerisms as Chisato will once again be left a bit cold, but it does admittedly work slightly better this time round.

“Baby Assassins” came in a year in which Yugo Sakamoto saw three action production shot within budgetary constraints release and as a result, it suffered in some departments, most notably in its uneven cinematography. Mercifully, he rectifies that in “2 Babies”, with the image being much polished and pleasing to the eye. The sprawling narrative takes place indoors, on the streets at night, within tight spaces and vast scrapyards, all of which are shot brightly. The Mexican standoff in the fast food restaurant too deserves special mention. The musical choices these time are a lot more traditional for the genre compared to before, and while not always hitting the mark, are mostly effective.

If you liked “Baby Assassins”, chances are that you're gonna find a lot to enjoy with “Baby Assassins 2 Babies” as well, which is a definitive upgrade on the previous work, thanks to its addition of two excellent antihero-like antagonists for the girls and once again with its superlative action scenes. Mahiro and Chisato's second adventure impresses and I for one would be right in queue for a third.