The third and potentially final film in the Baby Assassins series is easily the best and most entertaining of the bunch. The character dynamics are smooth in their simplicity and naturalistic approach, focusing tightly on the central relationship between titular killer babies Chisato and Mahiro. They’re found vacationing in Miyazaki, soaking up the sun when they’re assigned a simple job that becomes sabotaged, putting them in deep trouble. Renegade killer Kaede (Sosuke Ikematsu, Shoplifters, Shin Kamen Rider) steals Chisato & Mahiro’s contracted kill and pursues them for interrupting his 150th, his personal best.
Nice Days hits a stride not exactly met in the previous two installments. That is to say, the one they hit is fairly perfect: Kensuke Sonomura’s magnificent fight choreography shines perpetually and evenly, matched by Chisato and Mahiro’s endless well of fun chemistry. In this potent mixture of action and comedy, the babies’ third outing sings against the sturdy background of Yugo Sakamoto’s character writing. And when you’re not in the fight bobbing and weaving along with the girls in your head as you take in the lightning-fast choreography, you’re taking the emotional and dramatic hits to balance the experience in beautiful swift motions.
Since the second film, the series has smartly put plot in the backseat, opening the way to let performances go their own ways in a more open and collaborative sense. The results blossom into a greater focus on stunts, fights, and character moments that reward each prior beat with an undeniable passion. The film is also quite surprising in how decidedly less comedic it is overall - although not without moments of its trademark humoristic beats - which brings its tangible drama into the forefront without overstating its importance. Nice Days nails the ideal feeling of “hangout action” in the international post-Wick martial arts landscape it has aimed for since the first installment, continuously striving to improve upon itself with each film. Among the most improved decisions in Nice Days is how it utilizes personal bite-sized story beats, serving the audience to invest quickly in its characters without fear of any pretentious inclinations.
Mahiro’s birthday is coming up and Chisato makes it her goal to treat the soon-to-be 20-year-old to a nice dinner of Miyazaki beef on their idyllic vacation. But work intervenes once their task has been thwarted by the chaotic Kaede. They become tethered to another odd couple of sorts: irritable Iruka Minami (Atsuko Maeda, Shin Godzilla, I Am What I Am) and disgustingly cheerful ex-personal trainer Riku Nanase (Mondo Otani, Himuro Renji) are assigned to keep an eye on Chisato & Mahiro to make sure they don’t screw up their recovery objective.
The four engage in a chase with Kaede that brings out the best of Sakamoto’s posturing of easygoing espionage. There might not be too much left in the well of ideas he’s created for Chisato & Mahiro despite how wonderful their magnetism toward each other is, but Sakamoto has carved himself a niche with the Baby Assassin series so that if there happened to be say, 5 or 6 more films in this world, there’s a dedicated audience for that as long as Sonomura is still involved.
But something about Nice Days may never be captured again, and it has quite a bit to do with Sosuke Ikematsu’s performance as Kaede. His energy feels sinister in a way other baddies couldn’t be; any other big bad staring down Chisato or Mahiro would yield a signature bored stare from them but here, Kaede inspires real fear. Fights with Kaede become brutal quickly, trapping Mahiro in a mistake she barely escapes from with her life near the end of the first film. Shit gets real. Confidence blinds her and Chisato, something understated in them here yet overstated in characters like the perpetually annoyed Minami, pointing out how careless they’ve become.
The way the Baby Assassins films operate doesn’t require its audience to have seen the previous movies but it does help. The two girls have hit an apex with this film and the Baby Assassins series has quickly become some of the best martial arts films in recent memory. Nice Days unquestionably solidifies that.
Baby Assassins: Nice Days had its Canadian Premiere in the Selection 2024 section of the 2024 Fantasia International Film Festival.
Director: Yugo Sakamoto
Writer: Yugo Sakamoto
Rated: NR
Runtime: 113m
The way the Baby Assassins films operate doesn't require its audience to have seen the previous movies but it does help. The two girls have hit an apex with this film and the Baby Assassins series has quickly become some of the best martial arts films in recent memory. Nice Days unquestionably solidifies that.
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GVN Rating
Anya is an avid film watcher, blogger and podcaster. You can read her words on film at letterboxd and medium, and hear their voice on movies, monsters, and other weird things on Humanoids From the Deep Dive every other Monday. In their “off” time they volunteer as a film projectionist, reads fiction & nonfiction, comics, and plays video games until it’s way too late.
