Rating of
4/4
"13 Assassins" by Yojimbo
Yojimbo - wrote on 07/10/13
When a brutal sociopath becomes next in line to take power over a then peaceful Japan, a small group of samurai are dispatched to prevent him from reaching his kingdom and taking the throne. Takashi Miike is no stranger to blood and guts and so it was almost inevitable that he would turn his hand to the traditional samurai story at some point in his career, and he does so with a perfect balance between character-driven historical allegory and gritty, blood-soaked violence. Although the template for the story is clearly provided by the Kurosawa classic Seven Samurai, Miike evokes the tone of the likes of The Wild Bunch or Once Upon A Time In The West in portraying a group of men of action who no longer have a place in the world and grasp their last chance for glory or death. It concerns itself with the usual trappings of the samurai movie, namely fulfilling duty and honour in the face of overwhelming odds, but also examines the merit of such obedience. The duel between Shinzaemon and his opposite number Hanbei is the crux of the story, as Hanbei's devotion to such a cruel tyrant is clearly misguided and throws into sharp relief the folly of unquestioning obedience. But the centrepiece of the film is the prologued yet gripping action sequence as the trap is sprung; Miike is obviously in his element and the chaotic blood letting on a massive scale is surely one of the most visceral and exciting sword battles yet captured on film. Certainly one of the best of this genre of recent years.
