Azumi

"Azumi" is about a girl and 9 boys who are raised in the mountains by a master samurai. When they "come of age" their purpose, or mission, is revealed to them: carry out an order by the shogun to assassinate three warlords who would plunge Japan back into war.

I did like this movie, but the big downside for me was that the plot follows the typical ho-hum Action movie format... heroes fight many faceless bad guy minions along the way, occasionally encounter a "key" or really skilled bad guy, and in the end it culminates in the fight with the BIG bad guy. One of the reasons I love Asian cinema is to see things that are a departure from the usual format, so I guess I expected a little more from this movie.

Also, I don't mind graphic violence in films but there was a bit much in this movie (I will describe it as "constant"). I think movie violence is a little like the F-word... sprinkled here and there it can have real meaning and add punctuation or expression... 2 1/2 hours of it constantly, is kind of numbing. For the difference I am talking about, see the American film "Hostel" versus the Japanese "Audition".

As a samurai film it does not really strike a balance between character and plot development, and sword fighting. I am thinking of other films that do this really well like Yamada's "Twilight Samurai" or "The Hidden Blade", the "Zatoichi" film or TV series (not counting the horrid 2003 film!!) or take your pick of Kurasawa's films.

But, taken strictly as an uncomplicated action movie, I think it's entertaining and worth seeing.

My general impression about this movie was that it was too short, despite being about 140 minutes in length. I continued to think at least an hour after i've seen it.

The plot was good. Although the major point of this movie are the fight scenes, which were spectacular, they aren't leading the movie but are being led by the story. Again, the movie reveals to us the sternness of the Japanese character, one that never looks back and ready to achieve he's goal whatever the cost is. It also shows how small is the "life value" in their world.

The acting is good, the dialogs are all in place ( no scenes where the characters are saying things that are pretty obvious for themselves, and make them look stupid) and most of the characters are great. The Heroine Azumi is great. Beautiful, powerful but also shows her feminine side. She's determined in her mission to kill the warlords and has no second opinion about it. I also like the the teacher's character which i think represents the cold, brute mind ( heart ) of that time when life wasn't worth much. My favorite character is Kanbe'e. Shrewd, skillful samurai, that doesn't afraid to give his life or the life of his soldiers to protect his warlord. A very realistic character.

The character I didn't like is Bijomaru, Assassin with a flower. I think he's the only major flaw in this movie. He seems to be "too insane" and skillful at the same time and doesn't fit. More like a villain in the Chinese Kong Fu movies.

Fight scenes are great, no much to add. The visual effects and the wire work is great also. The score is unbelievable. It fits the movie perfectly and keeps you alert.

There is some resemblance to the Chinese "Hero" with jet Li. The main idea of both of the films is the same: A bunch of assassins tries to kill warlord(s). Although the visual effects in Hero are much better and the fights are impressive also, I still got lost in the movie's dialogs trying to understand the meaning of what was said and sometimes looked for the watch. The Chinese movies ( especially Hero ) concentrates largely on their philosophy, which makes them look a bit awkward, and less on the plot, which seems to stand still. Azumi "compensates" the philosophy time with ongoing plot and a lot of action, also providing us with some feelings for the characters.

If I had to choose between the two, I definitely would choose the Japanese movie.

Overall i enjoyed it much and would recommend it to anyone that likes action and does care for the plot.

Not intended to be an accurate reference to feudal Japan, this flick is great fun and worth a watch. The characters have been modeled after some modern-day Anime characters and video game heroes, and the film itself felt like a paradoxic mix between the styles of "Kinji Fukasaku" and "Akira Korosawa" to me. A mix of Japanese pop-culture set in old Japan.

The camera-work was pretty good and the soundtrack fitting. The characters were sufficiently surreal to be unbelievable, but well suited to the genre.

The is a must see!

A story about feudalism in Japan is something that I find interesting. The era, when the shogun reigned, when feudal wars sparked here and there, was full of chaos and bloodshed. "Chaos" and "bloodshed" are common catchphrases, but what draws me to these stories is that this era in Japan is something mysterious for me. Perhaps, it is the effect of the country being not too open during that period, and the main question is: What happened in Japan's deep countryside when the shoguns reigned? Although the Western world has their own share of wars, the wars in Japan were arguably more bloody and violent. When depicted in film, it becomes a piece of entertainment in many dimensions. As we all know, what usually makes these films good is a profound story about trust and betrayal, coupled with the showcase of sword-fighting skills and war strategies. The inner conflict and the clash of philosophies are more interesting than the physical depiction of the war itself.

The premise of "Azumi" is rather compelling because it is about young assassins. They were children used by the Tokugawa shogunate - deployed as assassins in their teenage years - to assassinate feudal lords who were capable of initiating another large-scale conflict. I was curious on their character development and the possible inner conflict that may arise when they face the world. The film did tackle these things, but the result was rather disappointing. Although there were some profound scenes, it did not delve into these things deeper, and generally, the portrayal was rather uneven and touched only the surface. It went more to the typical action movie side, and went further even beyond believability in the combat skills and endurance of its characters. As the film progresses, I'm becoming convinced that I am just watching an action fantasy flick despite its compelling historical references. If you are looking for an action movie and you don't really care about the story that much, then you may find this film thrilling; although you might be disappointed if you are looking for realistic fight scenes. In fact, it's the thrill and mystery together with some intriguing characters that enabled me to finish watching this film.

I'll be quick. The photo is sometimes fantastic and usually great. Cgi is nice, but is too cheap/flawed in some occasions, one example is the birds in the beginning.

I can't decide on an opinion on the fight scenes, either the choreography is quite bad and editing is good at hiding that, or editing wastes choreography.

Story is silly, but it should be, I got no problem with that.

Acting is acceptable for this kind of movie, is think. Sometimes it really stinks, but I blame the director for that.

Directing, the directing is a real disappointment, terrible. Timing is often way off. Characters are undeveloped and some scenes are composed really bad.

Overall good movie but with uneven quality. Best guess is that they just ran out of money.