Thursday, November 8, 2018

Lone Wolf And Cub: Baby Cart To Hades



Runtime: 89 minutes

Directed by: Kenji Misumi

Starring: Tomisaburo Wakayama, Go Kato, Yuko Hama, Isao Yamagata, Michitaro Mizushima

From: Toho

Now this is more my style: 

You know, Daigoro has seen some F'ed up S by now... that is the toddler son of Ogami Itto, the hero of these films. Baby Cart to Hades especially stressed this by often cutting to the type right after his dad unleashes bloody carnage. The first two acts don't have too much violence but that is fine as not only is there a story being told, but the final act has plenty of bloodletting, blood spraying out of bodies and other niceties people come to expect from these films.

Both honor and being a true samurai are the strongest themes in this picture as they are stressed often. The opening act has a bit where three mercenaries act like Harvey Weinstein to a mother and daughter; how The Lone Wolf handles that and another assault done by another Hollywood executive type does go a long way to explaining that Itto is not just a skilled samurai who is also a badass, but he has a code he lives by and he is willing to go a long way to protect someone for the sake of what he feels is right. For certain this makes him even more likable.

From there the main plot starts, and I won't spoil that or some of the characters you encounter along the way but not even someone who is skilled at shooting pistols can stop our hero. The first two acts are never boring despite the focus on the story as it was an interesting yarn that was spun and it also prepared us for all those that did battle with Ogami Itto. Mix in some pretty Japanese scenery & a cool score and while this is not quite like the first two films, it does not mean that this is less worthy of viewing for those that dig the first two films.

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