Wonderful character development!

Sorry, this movie sucks

A Disappointing Continuation

It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

Very well written and emotionally disturbing film. The film depicts a Sadistic lord who is son to the Shogun; a tyrant, who uncontrollably murders without giving a second thought. People of the land have gotten fed-up with him and have organized a group of 13 assassins to overthrow the current ruler.The film was so captivating, it has to be one of the best films of this genre that depicts this era of Japan. Eerily realistic effects and gritty set designing makes this a must see if you are a fan of these type of movies.

Lately I have become interested in samurai films, so I have been watching quite a lot of them - from the entertaining Lone Wolf series to the Kurosawa classics, with the late legend Toshiro Mifune. Those old movies are great but they lack in good resolution and better color. So I came across this Japanese film "13 Assassins" filmed in 2010. Recent stuff, sounded interesting. So I watched it - very good production, with a stellar cast including a member of the Japanese band SMAP who plays the bad guy. The problem starts with the plot. It's the old "small group of brave samurai against bad guy with army in larger number" just like Seven Samurai, The Last Samurai and 47 Ronin. Here, the 13 assassins are gathered to fight a sadistic lord. Despite the fact that the plot is more of the same, this is a post-Hollywood, post-video game samurai movie. It has all the action, sound effects and visuals of the blockbusters, including bombs and boars on fire (yes)... and gore, lots of gore. It has disturbing scenes, like the amputated woman and even a non-explicit homosexual intercourse. The biggest problem for me is that the guy who hired the 13 samurai to kill the lord Naritsugu actually had the opportunity to finish the job at the bridge. He had his fellows pointing their guns to him (but that would make the film end at the 1 hour mark.) Anyway, this is entertainment for the young audiences, craving some ketchup. Great production but lacking substance.

I was actually looking for the 1963 Black & white movie this one is a remake of but got this one almost by accident.However, I'm not exactly disappointed because it's a Takashi Miike movie(not surprising he directed it if you know his works). This wasn't my first rodeo with Miike & I've watched his earlier works like 'Koroshiya Ichi"(Ichi the Killer) & "Visitor Q" &"Audition". So I expected the "Splatter Gore" he is so well known for & also his penchant for the Strange & Weird.But "13 Assassins" is him with a milder version of violence(on movie scale,that's comparable to Tarantino bloodfest &not overkill on fountains of blood except for one explosion scene in the movie that'll actually make you go "Soreha no Takashidesu")&no weirdness in story,probably since it's already off a well-known play & a movie.But characters in the movie have definitely been revamped to up the ante & have their own unique identifiers of 'just-off' which is super-cool! So whether it's super-samurais Shinzaemon & Hanbei(one master-less Ronin & other serving Akashi-clan tyrant Daimyo),classmates,rivals & with distinct qualities of opposing natures chosen to oppose each other, a violent Hiruyama(movie shows adviser Doi picking him for his "spirit of sword" kenki),apprentice Samurais Higoichi & Hioke who train in explosives but almost always get time of explosions wrong or mercenary spear-man Sahara,who just wants to live big..they are ALL a bit-off normal & chosen specifically to assassinate an even crazier & almost philosophically sadistic Daimyo(feudal lord) & King's adopted(read 'natural' or 'Bastard') Half-brother Naritsigu from a well-drilled Akashi army led by Hanbei. Weirdest & wildest of them all is 13th member,almost accidentally so & clearly inspired by Akira Kurosawa's 'Seven Samurai''s Kikoichi character immortalized by Toshiro Mifune, the wild-ling bandit Kiga Koyita(played by Yusuke Iseya,who's a far cry from Toshiro,but is equally comic & nearly as unkillable). Takashi Miike got a lot of fun out of him but actually made him almost magically able to heal a sword wound & run around jumping after.He's one character who is hard to swallow..but rest are well-cast & great. A driven Shinzaemon(Koji Yakusho), strategic & 'okashira'(boss & trainer of 13) Kuranaga(Matsukata), Lost to gambling&finally-found a purpose(Takayuki Yamada with probably the widest scoped character of 13),Harakiri-driven Mamiya clan Zuso(Uchino)&Yahaachi Horii(Koen Kondo) are all well cast.Honor killing,Harakiri by Seppuku & assassination is the crux of the whole movie.The sadistic character of Goro Inagaki as Naritsugu deserves all the plaudits it can get & it was superbly put to life.He rapes,murders,mutilates,philosophizes, strategizes &dismisses his servants & enemies alike with equal disdain & is one for archives! All in all,story is well known,chase & strategizing & period drama dialog straight out of a Manga & actors brilliant.Definitely the best I've seen of Takashi Miike.When he's not being strange,he is one of Japan's best directors.Worth a watch as much as 1963 Eiichi Kudo version.Ones who like action will love it.

While most modern action movies feel bloated and overlong, with unnecessary subplots sprouting on every scene, 13 Assassins has the opposite problem. An epic Jidaigeki homaging Kurosawa's Seven Samurai, the film follows veteran warrior Shinzaemon Shimada, entrusted with the task of eliminating a bloodthirsty powerful nobleman, untouchable by the law; Shimada assembles a team of fighters for the dangerous mission.Structure is simple. In the first act, 13 Assassins introduces the major players and displays the nobleman's atrocities (one moment in particular is truly disturbing, cementing the movie's R rating); in the second, Shimada and his men reach an isolated village to prepare the trap, while the nobleman's right-hand man Hanbei attempts to anticipate their moves. The last act is a bloody, pulse-pounding battle which, in spite of its length (over thirty minutes), maintains a great level of tension.While action is spectacular, characterization is lacking. Kôji Yakusho is excellent as Shimada, but only three or four of his men - including his nephew and a clownish bandit who is a clear homage to Seven Samurai's Kikuchiyo - get any kind of development; the rest are simply guys with swords. With deeper characterization, the last battle would have been even more powerful.7/10