Blade of the Immortal

Yes, there's A LOT of blood since this is a Takashi Miike film and it's always a pleasure to see Kimura Takuya do his thing on screen. For anyone familiar with the genre, what was unexpected, but welcome, was the treatment of characters trying to find their way, each with their own sense of motivation, and reflections on the murky way of revenge. Ultimately everyone that picks up their weapon must deal with their own demons and justifications.

In Japan during the feudal era, disgraced samurai Manji (Takuya Kimura) agrees to help young girl Rin (Hana Sugisaki) seek revenge against Anotsu Kagehisa (Sota Fukushi) and his Itto-ryu, a band of master fighters and killers. One samurai and a little girl may not seem like much against a veritable army of warriors, except that Manji has one distinct advantage: 50 years ago he was infected by "bloodworms" thanks to a mysterious priestess, and now he's seemingly immortal.

Ultra violent and with streaks of dark comedy running through it, this is an excellent samurai action film for those with a strong stomach for such mayhem. The performances are good, and I was very impressed with Hana Sugisaki as the vengeance seeking young Rin. There are lots of interesting costumes and characters, and although the movie runs nearly 2 and a half hours, that seems necessary to make room for all of the plot points. While most of the story is resolved by the end, some things are left unexplained, such as who or what the priestess is who wanders in and out of the story. That may be left for potential future installments, although as this proved to be a disappointment at the Japanese box office, any sequels look unlikely.

One of the major selling points of this movie is that it is the "100th film from director Takashi Miike." He's had an interesting, and obviously very prolific career, that in many ways matches the Japanese film industry of the last 25 years, with its many highs and lows. Due to the often shocking, offensive, and absurdist material in many of his films, critics both in Japan and elsewhere have been slow to warm to him. This latest movie has many of the classy touches of 13 Assassins, but with the added manga-inspired videogame qualities of many Japanese action films. I recommend it to fans of the samurai genre, but I don't know if it would win any new fans to the genre.

Not much to say except it is clear on every second of the screen there has been so much care and time put into it all. It becomes a satisfying emotionally-driven film by the end, and is no doubt worth your time.

The acting, direction, music, cinematography, and story are all working together to create a truly entertaining experience - and I don't know why someone wouldn't enjoy this film.

Takashi Miike is know for his great directing, and "Blade of the Immortal" once again proves, what this man is capable of when it comes to large-set fight/battle-sequences. The cinematography is breathtaking at parts, i particularly liked the opening, shot in black and white - reminded me of the old works of Akira Kurosawa. If only the narrative part of this movie would be as well-crafted as these fight scenes. Honestly, there are so many flaws in the script, i gave up counting after the 80 minutes-mark of this movie. First: Our protagonist is a totally useless, unsympathetic, whiny little girl, who doesn't work at all in this kind of plot. I understood the idea behind her character (fish out of water etc.), but i couldn't connect with her on a emotional level. She was just not interesting enough (the actress was great by the way, so don't blame her). I mean, you have all these overpowered beings in the plot, but the only "human" character does not serve well enough as a leading figure? That's one hell of a problem. Second: There are way too many situations in the story, where any sort of set-up is missing. Sometimes things happen without any proper explanation. Characters change their mind without any reasoning behind it. Thirdly: The pacing of this movie is totally off. It felt like i was watching Ben Hur at times. Maybe the removal of some fight scenes, would have been a good solution for this problem. Last but not least, there is just so much unused potential. Yeah i know, this movie wants to be like a fun action-trashfest, but you really could have told a genuint emotionally touching-story with this concept. It lacks some real depth. Although there are some interesting scenes sprinkled throughout the story (some neat interactions between pro- and antagonist; the moral ambiguity of certain characters actions - even the character-conflict of Manji). Still, if you want to see a good student-mentor-story even with pretty similar characters, than go and watch "Logan". It may not have that well-crafted fight scenes, but there for more heart and a better screenplay. "Blade of the Immortal" has a breath-taking opening-sequence, some interesting story-bits and twists and a astounding cinematography, but it lacks real emotions, neither does the screenplay live up to the potential of the basic concept. The actors are good, the soundtrack is catchy and you can have fun with this movie over all, but don't expect one of the great works Miike has accomplished over the years.

Having read the manga for close to 20 years. The live adaptation of the film is a fulfillment to witness. As a fan of the original, I have preconceived notions as to how the characters behaved and voiced in between panels.

Therefore the performances for bringing Manji, Rin, Anotsu and all the other casts to life were satisfactory. Compressing 30 volumes into film, means that there were major trimmings made in order to fit this medium. Most notably are the back stories and developments for all characters depicted. Some characters in film are relegated to cameos, while others lack the motivational complexity of their respective arc that were spanned across the years. And yet, I still found myself intrigued by the story presented to me here on film.

The actions are brutal. Not as gory as how I would like it to be though. The original format was way more gorier in certain aspects. But I can understand why it was needed to be toned down for live adaptation.

If one is into cinematography, feudal Edo era, a story of revenge, filled with action sequences of samurai swordplay - this is a film that I would recommend. It fulfills on all those aspects. It had heartfelt moments and dashes of fun sprinkled perfectly into its pacing.

However if one is into enriching character developments, motivations for all their arcs and more; I would suggest to visit the original manga instead.

Overall, it is still a very remarkable effort from everyone involved.