Bad Lieutenant Trilogy Finally Complete After 34 Years

One of cinema’s strangest franchises is getting a new installment. Neon released the first trailer for Bad Lieutenant: Tokyo, a stand-alone sequel in an eclectic trilogy. The movie is directed by Takashi Miike, an acclaimed filmmaker known for graphic violence and provocative content, including the horror thriller Audition and the Yakuza flick Ichi the Killer. Miike also directed an Ace Attorney movie.

Takashi Miike’s upcoming Bad Lieutenant movie is a crime drama set in Japan starring Shun Oguri (Human Vapor, Lupin the 3rd), Lily James (Baby Driver, Cinderella), Shotaro Mamiya (Blue Giant), Jun Kunimura (The Wailing, Kill Bill), Liv Morgan (WWE), and Hiroshi Tachi (Owatta Hito). Daisuke Tengan (13 Assassins, Audition), a frequent collaborator with Miike, is handling the screenplay.

The YouTube description for the trailer reads:

A disgraced Tokyo detective spirals into a world of corruption, addiction, and violence as he becomes entangled in a twister investigation involving a vengeful ex-Yakuza, an enigmatic FBI agent, and a missing daughter of a powerful American family.

While this is technically the third Bad Lieutenant movie, the films do not form a traditional series. Each movie is largely disconnected from the others and was made by different filmmakers.

What films have been released so far in the Bad Lieutenant series?

The original Bad Lieutenant is a 1992 crime film directed by Abel Ferrara. It stars Harvey Keitel as a corrupt NYPD detective who uses illegal drugs, extorts suspects, and gambles. The movie was originally quite niche, as it launched in the United States with an NC-17 rating due to its graphic violence, nudity, and drug use, but it eventually caught on as a cult classic.

In 2009, the Werner Herzog-directed Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans premiered at the Venice International Film Festival. Despite sharing a name with its predecessor, Herzog has said that the movie is not a remake, noting that it only has a corrupt policeman as the central character. Herzog’s film is a bizarre delight, wavering between black comedy and violence as Nic Cage delivers a signature unhinged performance. The main things linking the two movies are bad lieutenant police detectives and an abundance of cocaine.

Abel Ferrara was not thrilled about the sequel. After Port of Call New Orleans was announced, he said that Werner Herzog and those who greenlit the film can die in hell for making a follow-up without his blessing. He apparently did not receive any royalties for the project. Around a decade later, Ferrara said he had met Herzog and made peace with him. Still, this initial discontent from the original creator highlights how atypical this film series is.

Edward R. Pressman owns the rights to Bad Lieutenant and has produced all three films. Pressman has several more sequels planned, each set in different locations across the world with local production partners and different directors. He stated that the movies will focus on corrupt local law enforcement and take place in the U.K., Germany, Italy, South Korea, and Argentina.

Why should you be excited about Bad Lieutenant: Tokyo?

While the existing Bad Lieutenant films share little in terms of plot, they are both transgressive movies about illicit street dealings centered on a corrupt police detective. Both were helmed by auteurs who put their own distinct spin on the material.

Takashi Miike seems like an ideal director to take on a spiritual sequel. His work is violent and strange, and he has frequently explored crime and the yakuza, as in his 2002 film Graveyard of Honor. He is known for controversial pictures about difficult subject matter and possesses strong stylistic trademarks that fit nicely with the Bad Lieutenant franchise.

When is Bad Lieutenant: Tokyo’s release date?

Similar to its predecessors, Bad Lieutenant: Tokyo will debut at a film festival. It is coming to the Toronto International Film Festival in September. A larger theatrical release date has not been announced yet, but since Neon is the United States distributor, the movie will almost certainly receive at least a limited theatrical release.

Source: Polygon