Baby Cart: L'enfant massacre

These movies were infamous for their incredibly brutal and bloody swordplay sequences, but equally impressive IMHO was the leading actor- Tomisaburo Wakayama a.k.a. "Lone Wolf" was surely the greatest martial arts star ever. The command and authority with which he wielded a sword (and other weapons) was just phenomenal. The blade truly was an extension of himself, and his use of it was the definition of lethal, with none of the unnecessary/show-off flourishes so desperately thrown about by today's wannabes. He had incredible presence and charisma- easily on a par with the likes of say Eastwood or Bronson- with eyes that reflected pure death, and the desolation in his soul. There were moments in the "Babycart" series where you'd swear he was the personification of his namesake, the Wolf. You never doubted for one second that he WAS shogun executioner, masterless samurai, assassin for hire. One look at him in action, and you could readily understand why his enemies trembled at the mention of his name, and ran from him in sheer terror. Alas, Lone Wolf is one with void now, but his legend will live on forever in these films.

Forget Toshiro Mifune. Forget Takakura Ken. Forget Sonny Chiba. Forget Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan, Jet Li, Donnie Yen, and any of those wire-reliant ballet dancers from Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon. And CERTAINLY forget any American martial artists that you could care to name. Tomisaburo Wakayama was, is, and forever shall be, THE MAN!

It was this film that converted me to the joys of blood spattered gory Japanese epics. The action is amazing - each fight scene a gem. The main characters take everything so calmly that I began to see Blues Brothers-esque deadpan humour in some of the more gruesome sequences. Watch this film with your friends so you can all scream at the TV each time a fight kicks in. It worked for me.

In this, the second in the Lone Wolf and Cub series, ronin Ogami Itto (Tomisaburo Wakayama) and his son Daigoro (Akihiro Tomikawa) continue to wander the land as assassins for hire, all the while keeping an eye out for members of the nasty Ragyu clan, who want them dead.

When the wealthy Awa clan approach Itto, offering him 500 gold pieces to kill a man who might be able to ruin them financially, he accepts; in order to complete his mission, he must face many dangers, including a team of vicious female warriors, and the highly skilled Hidari brothers, also known as the Gods of Death.

Baby Cart at the River Styx sees director Kenji Misumi delivering a breathtaking sequel to his excellent Sword of Vengeance. Like a Japanese Sergio Leone, he once again uses extreme close-ups, rapid zooms, sparing use of a haunting soundtrack, and superbly choreographed violence to continue his epic tale of a man and boy on a gore-spattered journey through 'hell'.

From the opening scene in which Itto quickly dispatches of two Yagyu clansmen, through to the stunning climax which sees Lone Wolf and Cub battling the Hidaris in a desert, this film is a stunning and often beautiful display of carnage. Battles take place in complete silence, with the vanquished always taking a second or two before they fall to the ground, blood gushing from their wounds. Daigoro also gets in on the act, activating spring-loaded blades in his cart to slice off the feet of the enemy. Misumi's handling of these scenes is superb, with some great use of innovative and ground-breaking visual techniques (one great fight scene has images superimposed onto each other to give the action a surreal and dreamlike quality).

But it's not all mindless violence. There are occasional moments of tenderness too, with the close bond between father and son displayed in a couple of notable scenes: Ogami gently bathes Daigoro, with one hand on his sword in readiness for trouble; and Daigoro nurses his injured father back to health, trading his jacket for food.

My only gripe with Baby Cart at the River Styx is that the film is often very dark, and it was extremely hard to see what was going on, particularly during the many night scenes. Whilst this may be due to my DVD being a bad transfer, it did affect my enjoyment of the film (I had to re-watch the gory dismemberment of one unfortunate shinobi at the hands of the female ninjas with my TV's brightness and contrast whacked right up), which is why I give it slightly less than Sword of Vengeance—7.5/10 (although I have to round my rating up to 8 for IMDb, which technically puts it on a par with the first one).

The first Lone Wolf film was enjoyable and innovative, but this first sequel unsuccessfully straddled the line between comically violent and serious in a way that the film couldn't maintain.

In this film, Itto continues his journey of vengeance with his young child along for the ride, rolling along in a cleverly weaponized wooden stroller. (Never before has a toddler been complicit in so many killings!) It's a fun movie for the mindless action, but it never really goes beyond that. At times the movie seems like it wants to be a more serious film, but then it veers back to a perpetually nonchalant Itto effortlessly slaying would-be killers along the road.

Overall, it felt like a movie attempting to bridge genres without ever cleanly landing in the one that fit.

Disgraced former executioner Ogami Ittō continues his brooding storm through the Japanese countryside, his three-year-old son Daigoro along for the ride in a booby-trapped carriage. Now some distance into their march to vengeance, the pair have drawn so much notoriety that they risk ambush and assassination at every turn. It's not paranoia, either: Ogami dispenses with blade-wielding enemies at nearly every chapter break, downing at least two-dozen men and women before the film is through. The opportunity isn't abused. In true poppy '70s samurai fashion, each challenger (or cluster of challengers) wears a distinct identity and a unique fighting style, like a colorful garden of deadly blossoms. They all bleed day-glo red, though, often in a towering arc of spray that paints landscape and fallen comrade alike. In Baby Cart at the River Styx, for the first time, we see vulnerability from the master swordsman and a little headstrong personality from his young child. We also see uncertainty from a prominent rival, another first, and restraint in the midst of a bloodlust. Some of the fighting is a little awkward, and the formula is threatening to wear thin, but overall this represents a wonderfully stylish, entertaining continuation of the journey that was so well-established in the first film. An excellent genre-definer.