Encontro de Gigantes

Zatoichi Meets Yojimbo was good as a throwaway movie-of-the-night to watch with friends (friends who were into Zatoichi and old samurai movies), but in the sense of it being something worthy of its stature, it didn't quite deliver. An issue, as some reviewers as well as author Stuart Galbraith (Emperor and the Wolf), was Toshrio Mifune wasn't playing the character really as he was in the Kurosawa films.

In the original Yojimbo and Sanjuro, Mifune crafted a true anti-hero bad-mutha samurai, who was grungy with his scratches, but also very cunning in how he could play both sides or act a little uncouth in his manipulations. Here, one just sees him acting like a stumbling drunk, and even a little like a scummy caricature of Yojimbo. Truth be told, it's meant more for Zatoichi fans- he was a HUGE title character, as played by its star Shintaro Katsu.

The problem there as well is that there have been better Zatoichi movies (I haven't even seen many, but the few I've seen, and as repetitive as they can get, aren't shoehorned plot-wise like so). And this isn't totally to put the movie down, as a cash-in flick it does attempt at making some entertaining segments (and I do like how the two of them decide at first to combine forces, so to speak).

It's entertaining enough, but should be more memorable, as other franchises can get more creative or try different ideas with their stars when trying to combine their vehicle-makers - although if you have come this far anyway with Zatoichi, why stop now. It's even sort of lackadaisically shot and edited, in a very formulaic manner.

Zatoichi Meets Yojimbo is the twentieth film in the Japanese franchise about the blind masseur, skilled swordsman and lowly yakuza. Yojimbo's character is inspired by Akira Korusawa's critically acclaimed Yojimbo and even played by famous actor Toshiro Mifune. The movie tells the story how Zatoichi grows tired of having blood on his hands and retires to his peaceful hometown. Upon arriving, he realizes that the town has lost its charm over the past three years. After a terrible drought, the leader of the village seeked the protection of yakuza against people from other villages who were trying to steal reserves. Since then, two bosses are controlling the territory. The delicate thing is that one of them is the wise father and the other one his impulsive son. The former decides to hire Zatoichi as protector while the latter hires Yojimbo as his bodyguard. In addition to the familial and territorial conflict, there are rumors of an important quantity of gold hidden by the older boss for his second son. Zatoichi's and Yojimbo's interests, paths and swords cross multiple times until a dramatic showdown during a storm.

Zatoichi Meets Yojimbo looks great on paper but turns out being the weakest film in the franchise so far. The movie overstays its welcome with a length approaching two hours and especially the middle section is plodding and at times hard to sit through. The sword fights aren't as sepctacular as in several previous movies. The film is filled with boring, repetitive and stereotypical dialogues. The addition of odd comic relief in certain scenes also drags this movie down and makes characters like the younger boss look ridiculous. The plot is a times hard to follow because it focuses on too many characters and side stories at the same time. Yojimbo is a one-dimensional character in this film who is busy swearing, sleeping and drinking. Even the usually sympathetic Zatoichi isn't quite convincing as he aimlessly walks around, occasionally cooperates with dumb thugs and often swears and drinks in his ambiguous relationship with Yojimbo.

There are only very few redeeming qualities in this movie. The poor Japanese village certainly has its exotically rural charm. The viewers get to know a little bit more about Zatoichi's background and past even though this option wasn't exploited enough in my opinion. The story line is more developed than usual but also confusing at times.

To be honest, Zatoichi Meets Yojimbo is the movie in the franchise that I've enjoyed the least so far. The characters are often one-dimdensional, the comic relief doesn't fit in and the plot is plodding. I would neither recommend this film to fans of the brilliant Zatoichi franchise nor to those who loved Korusawa's Yojimbo. Don't get fooled by the seemingly intriguing concept of combining two of Japan's greatest chambara characters. This film doesn't deserve the acclaim and attention it gets.

In making my way through the Zatoichi films, I was both trepidatious and excited to arrive at 'Zatoichi Meets Yojimbo'. On the one hand I was worried, once we get into the crossover films, that's a sign they're starting to run out of ideas. On the other hand, how can you go wrong with a film that unites Katsu and Mifune? It's also directed by Kihachi Okamoto (The Sword of Doom, Kill!), the only real name director the series has had besides Misumi. And besides, after nineteen instalments there has yet to be one I thought was less than great; the series hasn't shown any sign of slowing down yet.

Alas, though, I think this is the first Zatoichi film I thought was merely 'good'.

The movie sees Zatoichi returning to his home town, a town that looks very similar to the one in Yojimbo, and here he meets the titular bodyguard. For a while at the beginning I was trying to figure out if this was in fact supposed to be the town from Yojimbo, if the old man in this movie was supposed to be the same old man from that film, and just what the hell Mifune's yojimbo was doing still there considering the ending of that film. Mifune's character also seemed quite different from his character in that film, despite some surface similarities; here he plays kind of a drunken bastard. I soon realized, the best way to approach this film is, it's a different town, and Mifune plays a different character: it's just another Zatoichi adventure, with no connection to Kurosawa's film save a few nods here and there.

Really, this is what I was hoping for. Those less familiar with Zatoichi may have been hoping for a true crossover that takes place as much in the Yojimbo universe as the Zatoichi universe, but in the context of the Zatoichi series, this wouldn't feel right. But even just as a regular Zatoichi flick, I was still slightly disappointed in this effort. At nearly two hours this is, I believe, the longest Zatoichi film, but it just lacks the storytelling economy that makes the other entries so enjoyable; this one seems over-complicated and uncompelling by comparison.

Further, there were other little things that bothered me about this movie. Katsu seemed less competent than usual - struggling with normal stairs, and apparently unable to gauge the distance of a sound... This film continues the trend of the last few entries towards a darker side of the character, but Zatoichi's aspiration to becoming a 'villain', and simultaneous contempt towards 'spies' just seemed kind of random. And as much as I love Mifune, his performance here really didn't impress me.

There are good points to the film though. It's one of the more visually stunning entries in the Zatoichi series, with some beautiful sequences. And the finale is quite satisfying (even if it borrows a bit too blatantly from Treasure of the Sierra Madre). It's a solid film, but considering the talent involved, it could have been something really special, and instead it gets my vote as the weakest entry in the series so far.

Blind warrior Zatoichi returns to his hometown to find the village cowering under a gang. He tries to save the town. The thugs convinces their sensai Yojimbo to take out the newcomer for the bounty on his head. Yojimbo takes a liking to Zatoichi and has plans of his own.

It's the meeting of two legendary Japanese cinematic characters. It's sorta like Aliens vs Predator. My main complaint is that the kills aren't bloody enough. I need some more blood splatter. There is plenty of killing but I want the spray. At almost two hours, the film is a bit long. It rambles on for awhile but it's fine enough.

It has taken several viewings of this film to finally come around and enjoy it (for the most part). Toho Studios has now taken over the Zatoichi franchise and this means a larger budget production. Of course Mifune and Katsu together were guaranteed to draw a lot of attention when the film was released in 1970.

Zatoichi is tired of killing and remembers a beautiful, peaceful village up in the mountains. Then he's off to the village to enjoy the plum blossoms and the sound of a babbling brook. Or maybe not! The village is not the same and several bad characters plot to make themselves rich at the expense of the locals (and the Japanese Treasury in this case).

The repertoire between Zatoichi and the Yojimbo (Sasa) is entertaining and funny. Sasa tells Zatoichi to act more like a criminal, and Zatoichi, ever ready to please, pounds down a bottle of sake. The two call each other idiot and freak. At first these are hateful terms, but over the course of the film, they come to respect one another, and continue to use the same names for each other.

This is the longest film in the Zatoichi series (116 minutes) and it needn't be. The first hour works well, but the next 30 minutes or so sees the story meandering along with the introduction of another government spy (turned bad) that adds nothing to the main story.

The sword work in this film is only good, not great. The final confrontation between Zatoichi and Sasa is short and ends as one could predict. This film could have really been a gem if the film concentrated on the development of Zatoichi and Sasa's relationship. The two characters are entertaining and the film will please most chambara aficionados.