Review: NCT’s YUTA is a standout in ‘High & Low The Worst X’
The latest movie in the Japanese franchise has been dividing fans and critics alike, but praise has been pouring in for NCT’s YUTA’s feature length debut.
K-Pop star Nakamoto Yuta is starring in his first feature film as antagonist Ryo Suzaki. Image: IMDB.
What is High & Low?
You’d be hard done by to find a moviegoer that has never heard of the Fast & Furious franchise, composed of almost ten films spanning over a decade. But its Japanese equivalent, the High & Low franchise, is lesser-known in Western spheres. Focusing on street fighting as opposed to street racing, High & Low has had eight films, five television series, and even a live tour of the musical members of the franchise.
The most recent cinematic addition comes with High & Low The Worst X, a crossover film which combines the world of High & Low with the manga series Worst. The 2022 release follows the story of the Oya High street fighters, as they clash with an alliance of three schools. There’s kidnappings, brawls aplenty, and choreography that wouldn’t be entirely out of place in a John Wick film.
There was one big question raised by the release of this film: Can you watch High & Low The Worst X without seeing anything beforehand?
Going into the movie as someone who has never consumed anything from either of the High & Low or Worst worlds can definitely make for a tough watch at first. The cast of characters is fairly huge — even burdensome for those completely unfamiliar with the previous films — and names are thrown left, right, and centre from the get-go.
However, “unique character designs” help immensely, and once the gist of things is established, the previous content is pretty much unneeded aside from the odd flashback and cameo.
The highs and the lows
It takes almost an hour for High & Low The Worst X to truly get underway, feeling as though the fragmented first act is doing nothing more than setting up for the finale, jumping between subplots. However, when the action fully kicks in, what we get is safely entertaining. Who doesn’t love to watch a choreographed scrap?
A couple of action sequences really stick out as memorable, most notably Tsukasa (Hokuto Yoshino) as he uses a towel to fend off members of the antagonistic Suzuran students. And it is here that we finally get to see some of the prowess of NCT member Nakamoto Yuta.
Whilst the emotional range of the film is fairly miniscule (limited to jumping back and forth between friendly happiness and frustrated anger), YUTA is able to display a bit more emotional complexity. His character of Ryo Suzaki is clearly troubled; initially he is restricted to being a silent bodyguard to the villainous Amagai, but YUTA is able to convey a level of depth that brings a little intrigue to an otherwise straightforward movie.
His screen presence is strong, amplified even more by his impressive stunts against both Tsukasa and Oya High leader Fujio (Kazuma Kawamura). These stunts clearly demonstrate intense training, bolstered by his background as a K-pop idol skilled in both dance and choreography.
Emotionally, things are relatively uncomplicated, but High & Low The Worst X seems to be unable to decide just how seriously to take itself. There are few metaphors or deeper meanings to the action on screen, just a surface level reading of the power of friendship and loyalty.
But perhaps that’s exactly what High & Low aims for — similarly to the Fast & Furious theme of family, friendship is a clear cut concept throughout, and is accessible to any viewer, without anything pretentious or unnecessarily complex. However, it can make for a run-of-mill watch if you’re expecting anything more.
Is High & Low The Worst X a good watch?
Overall, the 2022 movie is not even close to a masterpiece. It’s nothing revolutionary, and aside from YUTA’s performance or if you’re already a High & Low watcher, it likely won’t stay with you for very long.
Belief HAS to be suspended throughout the two-hour runtime (where is everyone else? Where are the police? Where are their parents? How are they surviving some of these beatings?) and don’t even THINK about wondering if it passes the Bechdel test. But it is a strangely fun watch. There’s over the top power struggles, glamour shots thrown in between, and a hundred variations on a fight scene. Rinse, repeat.
High & Low The Worst X is available to stream now on Netflix.
Edited by Chelsea Cheetham.
