Masaharu Take’s “Underdog” is a boxing film turned epic. Presented in two parts, it runs for 276 minutes, not long compared with legendary cinematic marathons such as Andy Warhol’s fittingly titled “Sleep” (321 min.) or Abel Gance’s monumental “Napoleon” (330 min.), but a test of endurance nonetheless.
And it’s worth it, though in the second half the story tilts toward the melodramatic as it moves inexorably and rather predictably to a climatic bout between two of the principal characters.
The original script is by Shin Adachi, who collaborated with Take on another boxing film — 2014’s “100 Yen Love,” in which Sakura Ando plays a slacker-turned-boxer. Ando and Adachi both won Japan Academy awards in the end: she for best actress, he for best script.