The first film of one year before was a blast, an unexpectedly potent crime flick with its swirl of genres, styles, and aesthetics. It's only fair to wonder how a sequel might fare. One will observe right away that the same principal cast and crew have returned from 'The most terrible time in my life.' One will also observe right away that, dispensing with the black and white presentation of before, and in turn a considerable amount of the mixture that defined, this 1995 release immediately shows itself to be a more plainly violent, grittier, and a little more straightforward. 'The stairway to the distant past' begins much the same, with cheeky and wry humor at the start and then peppered throughout, but the tone shifts harder and faster as strong violence swiftly rears its head; this makes no bones about what type of picture it is. With smaller tinges of style and levity around the edges it's unmistakably a more outwardly grim follow-up, and the differences from the predecessor may mean this will appeal to a different or smaller audience. Even so it remains very solid overall, and anyone who appreciates the space it plays in is sure to step away satisfied.
Even if it doesn't need to be, it should be said that the same skill and intelligence is unfailingly reflected in every contribution in these 100 minutes. The production design and art direction are excellent, and the lighting, too, all very ably bringing to bear the seedy underbelly that exists in parallel with contemporary Yokohama. Some such odds and ends are altogether fantastic, especially in the back end. The costume design, hair, and makeup are swell, and any props and weapons; the stunts, effects, and action sequences are a bit more more common and more commonly intense than in the antecedent, reflecting the quickly darkening tenor. The varied music of Kumagai Yoko and Urayama Hidehiko is still a wonderfully flavorful complement, and does much to help sustain what playfulness remains, and indeed amplify what is to be found in the writing, in star Nagase Masatoshi's performance, and otherwise. Nagata Yuichi's cinematography is terrific; Tomita Nobuko's editing is quite fine, and at that more firm than in the previous work where it at times troubled the storytelling. Yes, the craftsmanship in this movie is pretty well superb, and though the declination of artistic flourish makes 'The stairway to the distant past' appear more ordinary - that is, less remarkable - it easily meets the standards of contemporary production values.
I might go a hair further and say that in general the storytelling is a tad tighter and more focused than in the forebear. Hayashi Kaizo's direction, and his screenplay co-written with Tengan Daisuke, may not be as outright striking, but it seems to me that there is a clarity to this feature that its elder sometimes lacked. Granted, I also think it's the case that some plot ideas here, including flashbacks, blend less evenly into the tableau, and I wonder if the whole might have been still tighter and more focused without them added onto the central thrust. I might also argue that the back end is marginally uneven, possibly losing its power ever so slightly. Be that as it may, the narrative is engaging and compelling, the scene writing is robust, and the characters and dialogue are interesting. Once again, there's nothing here that particularly leaps out to make one take notice, but the effort readily stands on its own legs; that it also loosely follows from the events of 'The most terrible time in my life' is just a bonus. (Do note, prior knowledge is useful to an extent, but not necessary, both in terms of the story and broad comparison.) What it comes down to, really, is that this title is pretty well on par with its 1994 elder. They are not one and the same, and the disparities are very identifiable, but quality is not one of those discrepancies. Both reflect splendid creativity by way of both film-making and storytelling, just in different ways.
Unless you're a huge fan of someone involved this doesn't fully demand viewership. By the same token, there's not much going wrong here, and provided the violence is no obstacle, anyone who likes crime dramas or thrillers is bound to have a good time. It may not specifically be special, but 'The stairway to the distant past' is reliably good, and sometimes that's all a film needs to be to merit a watch.
