Good start, but then it gets ruined

There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.

The acting in this movie is really good.

It's a movie as timely as it is provocative and amazingly, for much of its running time, it is weirdly funny.

This 26th also the last of the Zatoichi series indeed is the worst one among the 26 episodes. Shintarô Katsu in 1989 looked fat with natural gray short hairs, he directed and produced this one, added lot of modern stunts, his katana sword's ghost-like flashing cuts now got crimson blood splashed out of his opponents' bodies, unlike the early episodes, only cut but no blood coming out. we got chopped off hands, arms, legs even heads rolling on the ground. we saw him cured the sword in a hotel room. then we saw at the first time he finally got the chance to make love to a beautiful Yakuza local chief in a hot spring.Yeah, these are the new stuff he put into this last episode. but some of the scenes were overly used again and again in former episodes so many times, such as gambling scene, purposely letting two dices littered outside of the cup, cutting fake dices, etc., etc. but the scene that he stumbled into a dirt pit on the road is too much and too lazily copied from one of the earlier episode, simply is not quite good either.One of the worst arrangements of this series is repeatedly used so many same actors played so many different roles in different episodes. although their names or titles might not be the same, but these repeatedly showed actors were just killed by him in last episode, then same actors with the same faces showed up right in the next episode. this careless arrangement had seriously caused some viewing problems. a serious franchised series should not use so many same actors to repeatedly showed in different episodes; it's just stupid and ridiculous.This 26th episode actually should never been made in the first place. it looked just so tiresome and spiritless. by making one like this only meant that Shintarô Katsu just wanted to cash in the last time.Due to this series' popularity at that time, he even put some songs and sang by himself in the last several episodes, but the song in this last one was simply stupid, we got an English song! was it just because he sold this episode to some unknown American TV channel, so he got to put an English roaming samurai song in it for the American TV viewers? Well, the stupidity always amazed me.

Being a fan of Asian cinema I am ashamed to say that I never really seen any of the Zatoichi movies, so I picked this up from Amazon to see what they were all about, and the movie had been praised so high, so it was bound to be good.Or so I thought.This movie was definitely not in my liking. I found it to be boring, slow moving and rather pointless. And just to prolong the suffering, the movie is about 2 hours long. I made it through the first 55 minutes, then I simply gave up out of sheer boredom, and because nothing much really had happened.The acting was adequate, as were the action scenes.Sure it was nicely shot and I am sure that there is a profound meaning to the movie. I just failed to find it. I prefer movies with a little bit more action or appeal. But I am sure for fans of the Zatoichi story or movies set in feudal Japan, then this movie would be great.Of course there is an audience for this particular type of movie, or this movie specifically, I just wasn't part of that audience. I will say that it is not amongst the worst of Japanese movies I have seen, it just failed to catch my interest.

I became familiar with the character Zatoichi on IFC's Samurai Saturdays a couple of years ago. When the movies suddenly disappeared from their rotation, it prompted me to sign up for Netflix and see them all, in order.First the character. Zatoichi is a blind "anma" or masseur (common occupation for the blind in that era) that travels the countryside, never stopping for long in one place. Behind this unassuming appearance is a master swordsman, which combined with super human hearing makes him virtually unstoppable (very few throughout the series get the better of him). While technically a "yakuza" (defined sometimes as gangster, sometimes as gambler), Zatoichi is Japan's Lone Ranger, Zorro, Batman or Robin Hood. Considered an outlaw by authorities (often vile characters themselves), he lives by a simple moral code and is generally a folk hero amongst the Edo-period villagers he encounters in his travels.The bulk of the movies (there are 26) follow a pretty basic formula. Zatoichi comes to town, meets and mutually respects a Ronin or Samurai, befriends a sweet young thing or a hooker (with a heart of gold), becomes aware of depredations by the local yakuza boss or government official, gambles, displays his amazing swordsmanship (usually to discourage the boss or official), and is finally pushed too far by boss or official resulting in the wiping out of their underlings and themselves, unhappily fighting aforementioned Samurai or Ronin, and finally leaving the woman crying his name as he wanders off unseen.The formula works well through the first 20 or so movies, then starts getting repetitious as they reuse gags. This happens around the time that TOHO takes over from the defunct DAIEI as the production company. While the production values of these later movies are generally higher, it's offset by more graphic violence and sexual situations. The star of the movies, Shintaro Katsu, co-produced movies 16 through 26 as well as directing numbers 24 and 26. Which brings us to number 26, Zatoichi (1989).There was a gap of 16 years between the last 2 movies and it shows. The character, as is expected, has aged considerably in this period. He's heavier (aren't we all?) and has more grey in his hair. He is still, however, the potent weapon we've come to love over the series. But sadly, it's not, pun intended, executed well.The formula is broadly followed but is muddled with a plodding storyline and too many characters. Perhaps the subtitles aren't giving the proper translations, but characters come and go and their relation to the story and interplay with other characters aren't made clear. A good 20 minutes could be shaved off of this film and would only result in a tightening of the plot. Which is a damn shame, since this his last appearance as Zatoichi and you want to savor every last minute of this film. But sadly I didn't.See the movie for closure. If you're like me you'll be left wanting more (which is how it should be) and wishing for a more fitting end to a franchise that spanned 27 years and lots of great movie moments.Now don't even get me started on Takeshi Kitano's Zatoichi (2003)...

Shintaro Katsu is an actor who needs no introduction. Having played the rascal Zatoichi, the Blind Swordsman, in 26 films, he knew exactly what made those films so indelible. Though he had directed a few smaller films in the past (including Zatoichi in Desperation), this was his largest budgeted and most personal work.Zatoichi: Darkness is his Ally, is a breathtakingly beautiful film, shot with almost totally natural lighting. In fact, the photography of the film is near brilliant in it's lighting and set-up. Katsu's handling of the action scenes is absolutely top-notch. Kudos must be given to the final set piece, which I dare-say may be one of the best sword battles in Chanbara film history.But it is Katsu's moving, final performance as the wandering swordsman, that gives this film it's weight. His mere presence is so compelling, and his carrying of even the smallest of scenes so capable, that you wish the film would just continue forever, just to bask in a master actor's radiance that much longer.Some people may balk at the slightly episodic (and convoluted) storyline, but there are so many beautifully handled scenes, you can easily forgive any of the films flaws. Samurai film fans, take note, this is one movie you don't want to miss.