Zatôichi abare tako

The title of this one should be Zatoichi Kills a Bunch of Guys. There's little subtlety in this one. None of the things that made the series great are in this flick at all. If you've seen every other Ichi movie, then, perhaps you should see this one for closure, but, wait until you get to that bridge.

Not one of the highlights of the series, Zatoichi's Flashing Sword simply doesn't display enough of Ichi's skills. There's very little action and what there is is brief. The story itself feels padded out, even at a brisk 82 minutes, and one gets the feeling Daiei was simply trying to turn out as many films as possible to capitalise on the character's popularity. It's not bad, merely disappointing.

True, Zatoichi movies follow the same general pattern from one film to the next, and they're uniformly watchable. With Zatôichi abare tako, however, the film-making is on a higher level, with a convincing balance of swordplay, drama, and genuinely amusing moments. Perhaps most satisfying of all, the plot has a few truly disconcerting twists - even from the very beginning, when Zatoichi is nearly killed.

Period details are rendered nicely, as with the primitive ferrying service, and let's not forget the sword tricks; at the very start, Zatoichi, troubled by a few flies and unable to sleep, dispatches the insects in two quick strokes. When we see the culminating "fireworks," it's perfectly integrated into the film.

This film shows enough film-making craft to put it near the top of the Zatoichi canon.

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.

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!