La Légende de Zatoïchi : Route sanglante

The director Kenji Misumi was a prolific film maker from the Rising Sun Empire, and specialized in mostly Samourai features. This kind of movie is always the same, more or less same schemes provider, blood sword battles, honor, friendship, loyalty, sorrow, some humor from time to time. All those elements together, melted, giving something typical from Japanese movies plots, all genres confounded, even yakuzas or even horror films. Plots are always a bit complex to follow, especially from Western Europe audiences, nothing to do with Hollywood spirit for instance. This ZATOICHI series could be compared with BABY CART movies; same kind of lead errant character, fighting all kinds of enemies. If you are a samourai films lover, this movie will enchant you, if not, just watch it and then you'll have an idea of what it is. If you are reluctant to those films, get away from it. But this one is rather enjoyabe and not too long. My "trick" to appreciate all those all alike films and schemes if to find and then analyze the "villain" of the story, the one our lead hero will have to fight against in the end. For me the villain is the most fascinating element in those stories, never the lead.

Zatoichi fans will find this one of the most enjoyable in the series. I was put off by a musical number near the beginning--very 1960s. However, the movie quickly settles into an engaging plot. The iconic "mysterious stranger" that always appears at the start and end of Zatoichi films has a larger role here and is an interesting character. One of the best endings in the series.

Zatoichi Challenged is the seventeenth entry in the Japanese franchise about the blind masseur, skilled swordsman and lowly yakuza. It's an above average episode which is entertaining from start to finish. In this movie, Zatoichi shares a room with a dying mother and her child. It's the dying woman's last wish that Zatoichi takes her six-year old son to his father. The impatient Zatoichi and the energetic child soon grow fond of each other as they travel with a performance troupe that is terrorized by the men of a new pitiless yakuza boss. He gradually challenges the former boss who was very close to the performance troupe. Zatoichi soon gets caught between both clans, especially when he realizes that the child's father is hold captive by the new boss to draw sexually explicit paintings. However, the government has become aware of the scandal and has sent its own fighters out to silence all those who have been implicated. Zatoichi needs to bring a family together, confront a despicable boss and even fight the government to set things right.

There are many elements to like about this movie. First of all, the film starts like a musical with a few Japanese folk songs while Zatoichi is traveling through rural Japan. I liked this fresh idea since it wasn't overused but am aware that some critics didn't appreciate the idea. Zatoichi had already been traveling with a toddler in Fight, Zatoichi, Fight but traveling with a child that has just lost its mother, needs to trust a complete stranger and will meet a father he has never met before is a quite emotional addition which makes this film stand out. The plot might not be surprising but it's told with fluid pace and includes a few intriguing characters such as the potter and his daughter. The mysterious swordsman who often crosses Zatoichi's path is nicely played, especially in the gloomy palanquin sequence at night and in the final fight sequence. This final fight sequence must be pointed out for being one of the very best in the franchise. Everything is perfect about it, starting with the set-up and the initial dialogues, followed by the intense fight at night in a small alley under heavy snowfall and concluded with a surprisingly original outcome.

There really aren't any obvious negative elements aside the usual fact that each Zatoichi movie has quite restricted patterns which makes the franchise predictable.

Zatoichi Challenged still has enough intriguing elements to make it stand out among other films in the franchise. The movie's final fifteen minutes including one of the franchise's most memorable fight scenes are essential. Any collector or fan of the franchise should watch this film which might also serve as an appropriate introduction to those who haven't watched any Zatoichi films yet. If you watch this movie and like it, you'll be hooked and might as well watch all other films of this atmospheric, energetic and intelligent franchise.

Shintaro Katsu's Zatoichi is such a memorable character not only because of his talent with a sword, but because he acts justly in an unjust world, even as a member of the yakuza "gangster" caste, an outcast of normal society, a nobody in status compared to a samurai; often, in fact, labeled a criminal. No one respects him for his honor, but only for his ability to kill. The world around him is based on fear, corruption and evil, and even the people that are good are invariably weak in the face of the strong and corrupt.

This Zatoichi story is unique. The blind swordsman is at a traveler's inn with a woman and her child when the woman dies. Her dying request is that Ichi take the boy to his father. Unfortunately the father is trapped in a plot to produce forbidden images on pottery and plates -- artistic renditions of women that are often hardly even suggestive, but in those days were outlawed. It is over pottery designs that much violence is to occur thanks to corrupt officials, evil yakuza, and the twisted justice of the government.

Zatoichi has often been juxtaposed with a costar acting as a foil. In ZATOICHI CHALLENGED that foil is a child on the road with Ichi. This pairing elicits just the right combination of emotion and personality from the blind swordsman, giving his character added depth and feel. It is very gratifying to see Zatoichi in a fatherly role.

Ichi deserves more empathy and respect in this film. The father-son story device, the twisted justice of the government samurai, and the stylistic energy of the film are the perfect background for what Ichi's character symbolizes. Here Ichi is complete; an excellent protagonist.

The final battle scene takes uncommon form -- the added effect of the snow alone makes it magical. It is more stylistically shot than most Zatoichi battles, it seems edited with emphasis on emotion rather than action, and it ends in a very atypical way. Here the action seems to be balanced well in benefit of the story and style of the film. This makes the action for its own sake all the more beautiful to watch.

Also see the father-son device used in another excellent samurai series, Lone Wolf and Cub (Kozure Okami), starring Shintaro Katsu's brother, Tomisaburo Wakayama.

I love Japanese movies, they are totally different from all the other movies in the rest of the world. I grew up with Akira Kurosawa and his films, plus a few other masterpieces by Kaneto Shindo, Hiroshi Teshigahara, Nagisa Oshima, and more. This Zatoichi is the first in this series that I see. I didn't expect it to be so good, I imagined I would see a light comedy with some samurai. In fact, it's a complex movie, it's a samurai movie and their honor, it's also a comedy, and it's a drama too. Exceptional actors, masterful direction, simple and captivating story, beautiful music, in short, a very good film which absolutely worth seeing.