Reviewed By David “Killah Tomater” Finn

Tamura is your average successful Japanese salaryman: he is well-liked by his co-workers and boss, he is hard-working and polite, and he is on the cusp of landing a major Korean account for his pickle manufacturing and distribution company. Although he is divorced, and still misses and thinks about his ex-wife, he is blessed with a loving and understanding girlfriend. Yes, life is pretty good for Tamura. One might say he is living the dream, truly the luckiest koala alive.

“Koala?”

But when Tamura’s girlfriend is reported murdered, Tamura is the prime suspect. He must enlist the help of his psychiatrist, whom he is seeing for gaps in his memory regarding his missing ex-wife, and his boss, a white rabbit, to discover the truth behind his girlfriend’s death. Has he been framed by a jealous co-worker? Is he the victim of a corporate conspiracy? Or is Tamura truly a psychopathic killer koala? And how does the friendly frog convenience store attendant figure into all of this?

No, wait. “Koala?” “White rabbit??” “Frog???”

Click here to check out the Executive Koala trailer…

Executive Koala is an effective piece of cross-genre film. It balances the comedic and horrific nicely, while never losing sight of its overearching murder mystery plot. There are some genuinely effective stalk-and-slash moments, and writer/director Kawasaki gets solid performances from his cast while keeping the pace of the film brisk but easy to follow. He is able to tell his story while keeping the viewer off-balance and unsure regarding what is real and what is a koala’s bad dream.

I’ll bet! You said “koala” again! What the hell is going on with this movie???

SIGH.

Okay, yes, Tamura IS a koala. His boss IS a white rabbit. And the convenience store attendant IS a frog. The rest of the cast is human. And it is the absurdity of those facts, when compared with the remarkably straight performances and the film’s tone, that helps to keep the viewer unsure of what’s happening while simultaneously engaged. None of the actors are winking at the camera, and there are no tongue-in-cheek moments to be had, and this is one of the film’s strengths because such deviations from the otherwise straightforward narrative would cause it to fail horribly. Even the absurd musical interlude is played seriously.

I’m sorry…did you say “musical interlude?”

Synapse Films’ DVD offers an Anamorphic Widescreen Transfer, English subtitles, and Japanese Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo sound. There is a theatrical trailer and a TV spot which, had this reviewer seen either in advance, would have made Executive Koala a “must-see” instead of a blind-buy – American studios could learn something from them, as they tell you everything you need to know without giving a single spoiler away. But the true gem of the special feaures is the Making Of featurette, which provides the viewer with a look at the production schedule and the cast’s views of what is truly a unique film.

“Unique.” That’s a good word. As opposed to all the other murder mysteries featuring koalas, right?

Executive Koala is part of the “Minoru Kawasaki Collection” and, based solely on this one film, this reviewer will be tracking down the rest of Kawasaki’s available work. In fact, it’s safe to say that this reviewer is looking forward to Monster X Strikes Back (giant monster attacks the G8 Summit), The World Sinks Except Japan (global warming sinks all nations, forcing the world to adopt Japanese culture as they try to live on the only surviving piece of land), The Rug Cop (70s cop show-style film where the titular police officer uses his “projectile toupee” to fight crime), and – most especially – The Calamari Wrestler (a wrestling film reminiscent of Rocky…starring a squid).

“Calamari…?” “Projectile toupee…?” Global warming and giant mosters? How are you writing this review with even a hint of a serious tone???

Hey, if Kawasaki can keep a straight face for 86 minutes-worth of movie, shouldn’t this review offer the same? Executive Koala is recommended to anyone who enjoys their films bizarre, unexplainable, and impossible to (easily) categorize.