Baby Cart: Le paradis blanc de l'enfer

I was really looking forward to seeing WHITE HEAVEN IN HELL, the conclusion of the six-part LONE WOLF & CUB series of films charting the misadventures of Itto Ogami and his son Daigoro as they travel the violent landscapes of feudal Japan. Earlier films in the series – especially my favourite, the second one – have been excellent, so I was enthused to see how they finished the long-running storyline off. The bad news is that they don't; this was never intended to be the last film in the series, so things just close on a cliffhanger that was never followed up. I won't pretend that I'm not disappointed.

There's both good news and bad news for fans of this series. It's simple: WHITE HEAVEN IN HELL offers more of the same of what's come before. So there's plenty of villainous plotting, scenes of Daigoro being the lad we all know and love, and Ogami taking down numerous opponents without breaking much of a sweat. The villains are hissable, Ogami is effortlessly cool, and by now we all know what's going to happen come the end.

Yet the familiarity of this film's plot is also its downfall. I was starting to feel that things were getting a little stale in the last instalment, and that feeling is now overwhelming. The expert direction and effortless atmosphere of the earlier films is missing, and I couldn't help but feel that things were getting a little run-of-the-mill this time around. Certainly, nothing much happens we haven't seen before.

The writers try to mix things up a bit by introducing more outlandish elements to the script. I like crazy stuff in films, so I was pleased to see the presence of the undead here, and some elements of horror mixed into the narrative, but it's never fully capitalised upon. And the ending is a real let-down, an icy encounter between our feared hero and an army of skiing enemies; it's neither particularly gory nor exciting, instead coming across as rather silly. If you sit back and remember the triumphant, eye-popping ending of BABY CART AT THE RIVER STYX and compare it with what's on offer here, it's a real disappointment. And although they never did close that storyline, I'm kind of glad that things ended with this film. I can only feel they would have otherwise run this series into the ground eventually.

These movies were infamous for their incredibly brutal and bloody swordplay sequences, but equally impressive IMHO was the leading actor- Tomisaburo Wakayama a.k.a. "Lone Wolf" was surely the greatest martial arts star ever. The command and authority with which he wielded a sword (and other weapons) was just phenomenal. The blade truly was an extension of himself, and his use of it was the definition of lethal, with none of the unnecessary/show-off flourishes so desperately thrown about by today's wannabes. He had incredible presence and charisma- easily on a par with the likes of say Eastwood or Bronson- with eyes that reflected pure death, and the desolation in his soul. There were moments in the "Babycart" series where you'd swear he was the personification of his namesake, the Wolf. You never doubted for one second that he WAS shogun executioner, masterless samurai, assassin for hire. One look at him in action, and you could readily understand why his enemies trembled at the mention of his name, and ran from him in sheer terror. Alas, Lone Wolf is one with void now, but his legend will live on forever in these films.

Forget Toshiro Mifune. Forget Takakura Ken. Forget Sonny Chiba. Forget Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan, Jet Li, Donnie Yen, and any of those wire-reliant ballet dancers from Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon. And CERTAINLY forget any American martial artists that you could care to name. Tomisaburo Wakayama was, is, and forever shall be, THE MAN!

The sixth and last of the "Lone Wolf and Cub/Baby Cart" series of films shows how artistically well-done films can make even the most ludicrous ideas work. During Ogami Itto's journey to the final showdown with his arch-enemy Retsudo, leader of the evil Yagyu clan, we witness everything from incest bordering on necrophilia, zombie samurai who can burrow in the ground like worms, the usual assortment of mutilations, a battle on snow skis, and the most elaborate baby cart weaponry yet--including automatic armor plating! As usual, the images are beautifully composed, the action is splendidly choreographed, the plot ideas are wonderfully outrageous, and the funky music score is cool perfection. Any of this out of context would be silly; in context, it's almost sublime.

Fabulous conclusion to a fine series with less dubious samurai philosophy and more creative and marvellously choreographed fighting sequences. The stupendous snow scenes that open and close the film are jaw dropping and whilst watching could only imagine the filming difficulties. Subsequently I discover that these relatively short scenes took some six weeks to film with the youngster playing the cub crying at the pain of the cold and his 'Papa' near to collapse on several occasions. It is a remarkable episode in many respects and not least with regard to the cinematography which seems even finer here with some truly wonderful moments. i think I actually gasped when the opposing forces appeared on the brow of the snow clad mountain-side. The ending here differs from that in the manga partly because the film actually came before the story had been concluded - so keen apparently were the film makers to carry on with the series. Far from being a let down, as I feared it might be, this sixth and final film in the series is a fine way to conclude what, overall, is a most enjoyable and magical experience - with rather a lot of bloody violence.

The Lone Wolf and Cub or "Babycart" series of movies are a joy to watch. There's never a dull moment during Ogami and Diagoro's travels across the land they call "hell".

White Heaven in Hell is the last installment to a great series. Ogami must face what's left of the Yagyu Clan including Lord Retsudo. Ogami must kill them all to avenge Azami's (Ogami's wife) death.

This movie displays some great choreography (as always) Tomisaburo Wakayama is that good with the sword I sometimes tend to believe the guy is a real "masterless samurai". Although some of the fight scenes are a little confusing (the fight with the girl and the throwing daggers) on a whole this movie displays jaw-dropping sword fights...including an amusing final showdown battle in the snow.

And as usual, the movie displays some weird techniques of eradicating others...including daggers through the head, and even a rocket launcher! This may sound weird, but that's Babycart for you. But it works...in a weird kind of way,

In my opinion, Tomisaburo Wakayama is certainly up there with the likes of Toshiro Mifune...if better.

The end of what's possibly the best samurai saga ever.

8/10