Azumi (2003)

A disgrace to the samurai film tradition

There have been some very good samurai films lately: Hidden Blade, Twilight Samurai, When the Last Blade is Drawn. This is not one of them.The 'acting', especially from Azumi herself, is risible. The plot ludicrous. The fight scenes are amateurish. The CGI is inept. Anyone who thinks that this is a good samurai film should be compelled to sit down and watch some of the masterpieces of the genre: Sword of Doom, Tenchu, Sanjuro, Goyokin, Hara-Kiri. And then you can judge this one. It's so bad, it's embarrassing. Alain Silver, in his wonderful book Samurai Film, calls Azuma 'vacuous'. And so must anyone be who finds this rubbish worth watching. September 20, 2008

Heart of steel

Most action movies are all about the testosterone, and most action women are basically sexy parodies of their male counterparts.

Not so in "Azumi." This blood-spattered Japanese action film is all about the girl who becomes the deadliest assassin. The movie is short on plot and high on death, blood and dismemberment, but admittedly it does an outstanding job with its strong points -- and particularly with the moral complexities of the heroine's whole purpose in life.

After losing his son in a bloody war, a samurai (Yoshio Harada) brought together ten children -- nine boys, and the girl Azumi (Aya Ueto) -- and trained them to become the ultimate assassins. When their training is over, he orders them to each slay their teammate. With their best friends dead and their home in ashes, the young warriors are taken out into the unfamiliar world, and are confused by their master's contradictory commands.

He is intent on having them fulfill their "mission": to take out the three rebellious warlords Asano Nagamasa, Masayuki Sanada and Kiyomasa Kato who may end up plunging Japan into another horrible war. But his followers' faith in him has been badly shaken, and Azumi is further confused when one of these supposedly evil men treats her with paternal kindness even as she kills him. As she and her friends continue their bloody quest, she must grapple with the losses around her -- and with a very effeminate mercenary coming after them.

You have to admit, there aren't a lot of movies that feature the heroine killing her love interest only a few scenes into the movie, and then going on a blood-caked quest to eliminate even more people. Especially if you're meant to like her. So unsurprisingly "Azumi" nudges at the morality of what the characters do, and the desperate need to not face the question: Is this mission really a good thing?

But these moral questions don't really drive "Azumi." The plot is as straight and thin as Azumi's sword, and while a few clever twists are thrown in (Kato's body double) it's more or less a steady stream of exceptionally nimble fight scenes and graphic gore. Throats are cut, chests are slashed, heads are impaled, and blood sprays in every direction, while Azumi and her pals go spinning and jumping through every fight scene with dying bodies flying through the air. Yet even the fight scenes have a hint of artistry and sadness -- just look at the young warriors fighting each other.

Interestingly, this thinnish plot is very loosely based on actual history -- the warlords that Azumi's band kills were real people -- and it does a solid job with the costumes and weaponry. And the scenery is full of utterly stunning shady forests and mountain-filled skies, serving as a stark contrast to the bloody horrors of the human world.

Ueta does what she's supposed to do in "Azumi" -- look pretty and troubled while spinning around and hacking down dozens of ninja and samurai with her sword. She's not a great actress -- some of the scenes are downright wooden -- but she does give Azumi a sense of naive pathos that you wouldn't expect an assassin to have. She's particularly good when Azumi is forced to either kill the man she loves or be killed by him, and when she sees a little girl watching her mother die.

The other actors do better jobs -- Harada gives a suitably stiff, painful performance as a man whose obsession with crafting the ultimate assassins leads him to use these innocent young people for his own purpose. And Azumi's teammates all have their own individual personalities -- for instance, one of them refuses to consider that their enemies may not be evil people, while another keeps asking the master "why?" and never getting an answer.

"Azumi" is full of savage grace and brilliantly choreographed fight scenes, and admittedly not a lot else. But as a solid action flick, it's a bright little cult flick splattered in more blood than you'll find in virtually any other movie. September 15, 2008

Female Samurai Assassins are not to be mess with!,

Azumi is a nice action flick with a B-movie feel to it. Yeah, it gets boring in some parts, but it delivers kick a.. action, a beautiful lead and samurai swordfights, which are always welcomed and fun was amused by the story. Nothing too simple, nothing too terribly difficult. Pretty straight forward plot. (Read the synopsis on the main page). It was enough to keep me entertained and, in these kind of movies, if the plot doesn't hold up, the action will keep you in you're seats.

This movie was full of hordes of baddies, charging at Azumi and her counterparts, while she kills as many as one can count. It is said that "Hard Boiled" carries the award for most on-screen deaths. Nope. That award goes to this title. Many people die, so if you're planning to show this to your significant other, think for a minute. It is a very graphic movie. Very much like the classic samurai movies you remember. Blood spray, dismemberments, and plenty of slices. The battles were choreographed quite well considering the size of them. But, was the lead actress up for them?....O yeah!

The actress who plays Azumi, Aya Ueto, who is also very beautiful, seemed kinda out of place. I do not, however, know anything about her past history. I can guess that she is new to this genre... The costume on her seemed out of place but very interesting. Others do quite well, and fit with the tone of the movie, especially Bijomaru (the white robed one). He made this movie even more for me.

Azumi, based, apparently, on a manga is just what you expect from an adaptation. Expect cooky characters, like the dog impersonator, and Bijomaru. Also expect that over-the-top violence. A very manga-esque movie. Kitamura, so far from the two movies I've seen (Versus), he doesn't fail to entertain. He does his job and I'm very grateful see it by all means. Thanks Sir Night for putting this out there!

September 8, 2008

Fantastic

Azumi is one of those martial art flicks that will become a classic. If you like action with a good story line check out Azumi. September 7, 2008

A body count that exceeds Shogun Assassin... but it's a teenage girl that does it!

I have to say, I got this DVD as a Thai import while the American version was still quite expensive (for future reference, for Asian films, sometimes Thai imports are cheaper, and correct region with english subtitles, check it out sometime...). Now that the English version has dropped to a decent price point, I would definitely recommend getting this movie.

I was afraid of the length of the film at first, but it is fairly well paced throughout. The story moves and introduces new elements as you go along. They even vary the camera shots for the kill scenes to mix things up. Some are off camera, some are from below with no clear line of sight, some are varied film speed, etc. etc. Because with a body count this high, it had potential to get very boring showing similar kills every time.... especially samurai style which is quick and no frills killing.

The reluctant teenage girl assassin played well too. They could have explored her feelings a bit more in the matter. There were some suppositions from her in the movie they didn't develop at all. Just left them as hanging ideas. Maybe they ended up on the cutting room floor. Or maybe it doesn't play to Japanese viewing tastes to explore them.

I have two small gripes though....

The cinematography is inconsistent. I could never make out just by watching this movie if this was big budget with some bad shots, or an independent movie with incredibly inventive shots. There are some cool varied speed shots that are fun, and some filters applied to keep your eye in the screen. There are parts that look incredible. Then, there are some bad pans and cuts that look amateurish, and snap you out of the movie, but only momentarily.

Also, the swordplay scenes are not great in the beginning, as it is teenagers sparring with each other. They look contrived and slow. As the movie moves though, they seem to get better, perhaps they mixed the teenage assassins with stuntmen, so they got braver with the moves.

The main bad guy was extremely over the top, but I enjoyed him a lot. I feel that will be a matter of the individual taste of the viewed whether or not you buy into him.

Lastly, the ending after the final big scene, you will realize there was a loose end to tie up, so they did..... which sort of made it a bit anticlimatic... but didn't detract from the overall feel of the film for me.

Everything else in this movie is pretty good. If you enjoy Lone Wolf and Cub, you will like this. Not nearly as polished, or as dark, but a fun ride through and through. June 3, 2008

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