‘Tokyo Swindlers’ Netflix Series Review - You Have Been Scammed

There is a scene in Tokyo Swindlers where Harrison Yamanaka (Etsushi Toyokawa) explains what makes Die Hard so special to Takumi Tsujimoto (Go Ayano). The reason for its appeal, according to Harrison, lies in the main antagonist. He talks about a scene where a man is pushed from the building. Harrison finds this scene exciting because it captures the victim's shock vividly, and effectively. He then elaborates his point by diving into the behind-the-scenes story. The actor playing that victim was told by the crew members that they would count "one, two, three" and then push him from approximately 15 meters height. However, what they ended up doing is that they threw the actor prematurely, giving rise to an honest reaction from him. Later in the series, Harrison gets to experience this high when he, too, shoves a character from a building prematurely. Tokyo Swindlers share the same enthusiasm. It captures its characters' shocking, surprising reactions and stretches their pain through slow motion. Harrison, Takumi, Reiko (Eiko Koike), Goto (Pierre Taki), and Takeshita (Kazuki Kitamura) are land swindlers. A voice during the opening credits sequence informs us that they are "members of real estate fraud groups who pose as property owners trying to sell their land." In Tokyo Swindlers, whenever the victims realize they have been scammed, the camera records their expressions with such precision that you can almost hear the sound of their hearts breaking into a million pieces. We are able to listen to their thoughts - the ache becomes palpable.

Harrison, the criminal mastermind behind the scams, sees himself as a great movie villain. With dark glasses and a (mostly) stern face, he behaves like "a man of few words" genius. One can sense how Harrison must have been influenced by the bad guys in Die Hard-like movies, as they got the pleasure of wreaking havoc without thinking about the consequences. When we are first introduced to Harrison, he expresses his disgust for Japan to an American ("Shitty people being pushed against each other in a tiny, shitty space"). You can detect his frustration towards the government, the society, and the system. In such a hellish landscape, he prefers being a villain because heroes, with their morality, are not ambitious and look bland. Harrison is not only hungry for power, but he also gets his thrills by coming face-to-face with danger. When a bear runs towards him, he, instead of flinching, stands firmly in his position. He later tells his team that he has become tired of small-scale cons that are easy to pull off, which is why he wants to catch a big fish by throwing a big net. More risk means more adrenaline rush for Harrison. One thing that's so interesting about this character is that he isn't merely inspired by movie villains, but he has also fixed their flaws before wearing their demeanor. The most annoying habit of movie villains is to put heroes in a fatal situation and then leave the site before witnessing and confirming their deaths. Harrison, though, doesn't take any chances. He gets rid of the loose ends.

Why become a land swindler? Again, the answer can be found in Harrison's words when he mentions how people have always fought for land acquisition. He believes people can lower themselves to the level of animals to secure a place to build their boundaries on earth. With his team of swindlers, Harrison exploits this human nature. Not everyone, though, has joined for the same reason. Other members see swindling as a means of financial support, except Takumi. He wants revenge. A scammer destroyed his family in the past. He wants to find and kill that man. Yet, we never once get a scene where Takumi is seen investigating that scammer. He doesn't use his contacts to trace his location. Takumi's internal thoughts are revealed to us in the end, but this explanation comes across as a report. It feels as if the moment is placed to just answer this particular question. Nothing about it screams "organic" to us. A story like this has its share of "oh shit, we are about to get caught" moments, and the ones in Tokyo Swindlers are extremely feeble. We never believe that the swindlers are about to be caught red-handed because these scenes are executed with cliché slow-motion tricks that expand time to raise tension. Our familiarity with such filmmaking devices prevents us from feeling excited. Tokyo Swindlers doesn't reinvent these sequences, and the Big Reveal here is also too predictable. We also get one of those lame scenes where an important item (a hotel key card here) is obtained effortlessly by someone as it's casually placed on the table.

Perhaps director Hitoshi One adapted Ko Shinjo's book (I have not read it) because he found its psychological dimensions irresistible. We see what attracts the characters towards the swindling job and how this con destroys the victims. The effort the criminals put into their jobs and the hopes their targets bring to the table are all presented clearly to us. There are also those mirror shots involving wet pants and burn marks (they first appear as a trick and then as something real). You sense that Hitoshi One is attempting to infuse the crime caper with fresh air through Tokyo Swindlers, and the show has its share of enjoyable moments. However, by focusing on mental scars, the series forgets to pay attention to the thriller parts. There is little to no suspense in Tokyo Swindlers. It also has a pathetic ending where someone who should have died turns up alive and well so that the director can have the option to make a second season. Tokyo Swindlers, ultimately, is stuck between being something that tries to give a new spin to familiar material and something that checks the boxes for the inattentive Netflix audience. It's watchable but not memorable.

Final Score- [5/10]
Reviewed by - Vikas Yadav
Follow @vikasonorous on Twitter
Publisher at Midgard Times