La légende de Zatoïchi - La lame

If you've seen one Zatoichi film, then this one will be nothing new. The thing is, that Shintarô Katsu does such a great job playing Zatoichi, that I don't care how similar these movies are. This movie is a little different in that the beginning of the movie has several light humorous moments, the fact that Zatoichi is shot seems to have no bearing. But like all the other films in the series, it gets serious. In case, pretty serious. Katsu can be lighthearted and charming but when he means business, I wouldn't want to mess with him. As for the battles not a whole lot until the end, but that one is a doozy. I tried counting how many people he kills; I lost count after 35. So, if you're a sucker for Zatoichi, then this one should be fun viewing.

This Zatoichi film starts off in an unusual way. The camera is mounted on the ceiling looking straight down on the people in the room! The scene itself is fine, but the way they filmed it was nice as a change of pace. Interestingly enough, the final shots of the film were also done in much the same way, but in a darkened hallway.

Immediately after this, a guy is yelling because he apparently shot Zatoichi. However, they can't find a body because Ichi swam away and was cared for by an old woman until he could go back on his journey. Oddly, some unnamed benefactor paid her for her nursing him to health. Who this is and why, we don't yet know.

In the next scene, a group of punks invade a kendo dojo. Looking to hurt someone, they pull Ichi inside and proceed to get their butts kicked. I was actually more impressed with actor Shintaro Katsu's work with the bamboo kendo sword than his usual swordplay--it was very fast and impressive.

While not as impressive technically, there also was a very unusual underwater fight. Five thugs attacked Ichi while he was bathing in the river. He led them to deeper water and then dove under--and one by one the bad guys were gutted as if Zatoichi were a shark! There was also a bit more humor in the film than usual. One routine is a cute one involving a guy who makes money carrying people across the river on his shoulders, but the one I really liked was Zatoichi and the guys peeping at the lady taking a bath.

The main story is pretty typical of a Zatoichi film. One big boss is trying to muscle in on the territory of another lesser one. The big boss is a nasty, laughing, obese stuttering guy and again and again he tries a variety of tricks to try to hurt the other boss. Fortunately, Zatoichi is on hand to help out when things start to spin out of control. And, as fireworks begin to go off, so do arms, legs, etc. as Ichi takes the battle to the evil warlord. Yay, Ichi!

As the other commenter's have said it is mostly more of the same. Also, I have to agree that the plot is a less involved than in other Zatoichis, although I don't think any of this films are very complex, so if you enjoyed the others you will probably enjoy this one. There were two things that stood out to differentiate this from earlier Zatoichis though. First, it had a few goofy/slap stick type moments, which I don't remember being very common in earlier ones. Second, when Zatoichi got angry he seemed evil and creepy. Usually he gives more of the impression that he is defending himself, but this time he was out for blood. Not the best but entertaining.

In a plot not unlike A Fistful of Dollars, here we have Zatoichi dealing with two big gangs, the differences being that one of them is good and Master Ichi stays loyal to them. Of course, the movie is filled with the expected Zatoichi humor and action goodness, so it's definitely a worthy entry into the fine series. Following what was started in number 6 (The Chest of Gold), Flashing Sword continues to add some blood to the sword wounds, especially at the end. One shot has the red stuff spray hard all over one of the paper doors! Speaking of that, there was also an angled, side-scrolling action sequence with Zatoichi working his way down an alley that reminded me of the hall fight in Oldboy. Cool stuff!

Zatoichi's Flashing Sword is the seventh entry in the franchise and the second of four movies released within a single year. At the beginning of the movie, Zatoichi is still a wanted fugitive for what he did in the previous films and gets shot in the back by a young man who tries to impress his criminal friends. Zatoichi is saved by a traveling family who pays a local townswoman to nurse the blind masseur back to health. Once Zatoichi feels better, he travels to Kajikazawa to thank the family for saving him. He is welcomed warmly by the generous and respected family and especially befriends the family's beautiful and charming daughter who discovered the dying Zatoichi in a river and saved him. Zatoichi however witnesses how another clan tries to trick the family into a duel over the control of a river ford that all travelers have to pay to cross. The other clan uses the family's hot-tempered son who comes home after having lived the life of a criminal for a year and who turns out to be the man who shot Zatoichi. The blind masseur however tries to save the naive young man despite what he did to him, attempts to prevent the other clan's ruthless conspiracy and finally wants to hear some local fireworks.

On the positive side, the movie's characters are more developed than in many other entries. As a viewer, one actually cares about the friendly businessman who helps Zatoichi and who is very generous towards his community. The businessman's charming daughter is complemented by the businessman's hot-tempered son. The movie's antagonist in form of the leader of a clan who wants to control the businessman's river ford is quite intriguing as he cleverly attempts to keep Zatoichi away from the conflict, hires a group of ruthless swordsmen who want to see Zatichi dead and even uses his own sister to influence the local intendant. Rarely has an antagonist been as clever, organized and ruthless as in this movie. Another element that stands out is how Zatoichi gets treated very well in the beginning of the movie just to be rejected once again towards the end which is heart-breaking to watch. The blind masseur's emotional struggles really come to life in this film. The highlight of the movie are the final thirty minutes or so with intense sword fights in a river, under a bridge and in different locations of a dark mansion. The fight choreographies are quite diversified which make them particularly entertaining.

On the negative side, the character developments of the movie drag on a little bit too long. After an explosive first five minutes, the movie drags on without any sword fights for nearly fifty minutes before the final showdown. There are too many dialogues and repetitive discussions that don't add much to the story. Especially the side story with the deaf firework artist is quite dull. The ending of the film felt somewhat abrupt as one would have liked to get to know more about the fates of the survivors. After a lengthy build-up, that almost aborted ending felt out of place. A true conclusion is missing in this film.

Still, Zatoichi's Flashing Sword is one of the better entries in the franchise thanks to the clever antagonist, a set of well-developed characters and the vivid series of final sword fights. I would recommend this movie to both collectors and fans of the franchise on one side and those who aren't familiar with the Zatoichi franchise yet because this film really shows the blind masseur's strengths and weaknesses in an emotional way.