Runtime: 81 minutes
Directed by: Buichi Saito
Starring: The usual
suspects
From: Toho
Now that is an attention-getter.
Recently I realized it has been way too many months since I had seen the third film in this series (Baby Cart to Hades) so this was the opportune time to rectify this mistake. The first few minutes of this are real striking: a topless tattooed woman who is an assassin mows down several samurai, then our protagonist Ogami Itto is asked to take her out. The opening credits are highlights of the first three movies set to a groovy jazz-rock tune, and it was all great. Later on, a didjeridu is heard a few times, and that was unexpected.
This had a more complex plot than usual as not only was this female assassin targeted, but Itto also deals with some ghosts from the past in the Yagyu clan he used to be part of and backstory was provided which explained why they set him up and enacted that scheme which was seen in Sword of Vengeance, the first movie in this series. Even his son Daigoro gets more to do than usual.
Of course there are the usual themes of honor, pride... and plenty of bloodletting; red claret is flying out of bodies in a variety of interesting settings, including a Buddhist temple. This is exactly what I expected from the franchise and thus this viewing was a grand old time.
Recently I realized it has been way too many months since I had seen the third film in this series (Baby Cart to Hades) so this was the opportune time to rectify this mistake. The first few minutes of this are real striking: a topless tattooed woman who is an assassin mows down several samurai, then our protagonist Ogami Itto is asked to take her out. The opening credits are highlights of the first three movies set to a groovy jazz-rock tune, and it was all great. Later on, a didjeridu is heard a few times, and that was unexpected.
This had a more complex plot than usual as not only was this female assassin targeted, but Itto also deals with some ghosts from the past in the Yagyu clan he used to be part of and backstory was provided which explained why they set him up and enacted that scheme which was seen in Sword of Vengeance, the first movie in this series. Even his son Daigoro gets more to do than usual.
Of course there are the usual themes of honor, pride... and plenty of bloodletting; red claret is flying out of bodies in a variety of interesting settings, including a Buddhist temple. This is exactly what I expected from the franchise and thus this viewing was a grand old time.
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