Zatoichi Reviews

Utterly Brilliant!

Kitano does it again, this time as Zatoichi. This film is a definate must see. Superb fight sequences, an interesting storyline and characters and with a funny, wacky ending.

More feel-good than his previous film 'Dolls'.

I really can't say anything else, I just thought it was a true 5 star film in the cinema, at the end I came out having throughly enjoyed myself and on a real high that only the best films can achieve.

Pure Brilliance

Forget Kill Bill as this is the real deal. The fact that this has subtitles is irrelevant, it is more entertaining than most of the recent hollywood films put together and the martial art skill on display is stunning.

Bring it on Takeshi! Am one of the Kill Bill converts so I know I'm not qualified to review this quality film but am going to anyway. Brilliant film with everything in it - action, comedy, tragedy.... and dancing (!). The story was a little disjointed and hard to follow in places but overall you rooted for the main characters. Keep an eye for the twist at the end.... and the paddy field workers. Scenery and music really suceeded in bringing this film alive. Am off to to the Japanese section as you read this...

Superb

A simple tale, told with subtlty and flair. Flashes of comic genius are scattered amongst the violence to lighten the blow and make the whole thing more palatable. Only for those who know what they're in for ... hot-hatch driving thrill seekers who saw Kill Bill and thought it was cool need not apply

No wires, no computers, just a very sharp sword and years of practice...

That practice came in the form of almost one film per year since 1989 for Director/Star Takeshi 'Beat' Kitano. 15 years after his directorial debut Kitano adopted and transformed the popular Japanese legend of a blind masseuse (the title role of Katoichi) who also happens to be a hardcore Samurai warrior. The humble old man takes refuge in a small Japanese village, before revealing his sword skills in order to rid the town of two warring gangs. Heard it before? Not like this your haven't...

In this, by far the best, version of the tale, Kitano has created and oxymoron: a gentle stroll of a samurai movie; the narrative meandering on with enough quiet confidence to pause for a moment or two and look at the scenery. The scenery in this case comes in the form of a full cast of eccentric but thoroughly likeble characters and their back-stories.

These sporadic flashbacks occasionally stall the momentum of the film, but the more frequent sword fighting interludes never fail to jump start it again.

In a film with less feeling and characterisation, these perfectly executed fight scenes would alone boost the star rating, but in Katoichi, they are a huge bonus in an otherwise engaging story with such depth and unselfconscious humour that the all-out song and dance number at the end seems like a perfectly fitting conclusion to a Samurai movie!

Subtle and Stunning!

'Beat' Takashi Kitano delivers another thought provoking blend of absurd comedy, astonishingly brutal violence and seemingly effortless storytelling. The chracter of the shuffling blind samurai, Zatoichi was made for Kitano, with his trademark facial tics and intermittant bland gaze combined with whip fast swordplay and humour as black as a crow's armpit. The combination of grim drama (witness the tale of the Naruto twins), martial arts (the fight in the rain is gripping) and dark oblique -or broad- humour (see the barmy teenage wannabe samurai and the gambling son) is a delight to watch and watch you should. It's on my Christmas must - have list that's for sure! As for the ending, Gene Kelly (who I understand Kitano is a big fan of) would have been proud!

[Highly rated reviewer]

The Emperor's New Clothes?

Maybe it was just me, but I was sucked in enough by the excellent reviews of this film to rent it. They say it's better than 'Kill Bill'? Pah! Even that creaky old TV show 'The Water Margin' is better than this load of old tosh! Mind-numbingly dull story and direction, poor fight scenes with laughably-bad CGI blood effects... I switched off before the end and couldn't get that damn thing back in the return envelope fast enough!

No one does silence as well as 'Beat'

This film is a remedy for all those awe-inspiring Asian epics currently saturating the market.

The premise is simple; blind assassin saves those who've helped him. The action is visceral yet not overblown.

My only quibble would be the digitally added blood splatters looked out of place in the historically ambiguous setting.

Overall though, a great Sunday afternoon kung-foo flick.

[Highly rated reviewer]

What a shame...

Was after quality superhuman martial-arts romp and that's exactly what I was getting but at a couple of points and with no consequence or relevance to the plot it appears that 'Stomp' or some other badly disguised West-End dance troupe are allowed to invade the set. Appalling. Totally ruins the feel of the film. There is a time and a place for modern artistic conceptual dance troupes in martial-arts films: nowhere and never...unless they get a fatal beating a few seconds into their routine. Feel very cheated as the film is good apart from that.

Blinding good fun

Well, this is a rum do! It's bloody, extreme, beautiful and meaty. It's a tale of a blind samurai and his struggle against a gang of bad 'uns. So, pretty typical really. But it's handled with real aplomb. The fight scenes are as good as anything and it's very easy on the eye. But what really makes it stand out is the (utterly bizarre) musical scenes. It's just not something you'd ever expect to see in a Hollywood production, and it's all the better for it. Beautiful print on the dvd as well.