This ups the ante a bit from those measly chump Seven Samurai. This one goes to 11! or more, give or take a couple. And where the Akira Kirosawa classic misses out a bit with the B&W, this one is also kinda monochromatic, except with a lot of RED. Oh so bloody, in true Miike fashion. But only where necessary, as it is by nature a violent film, and quite frankly only one real Miike-ish scene (you can’t miss it). But yeah, light swords do some heavy damage. Those Fuckers are sharp!
1844, getting to the end of the era of Samurai, and they know it. The Shogunate is still in power, but their heirarchy leaves something to be desired. Next in potential line is Kinda like the Caligula of Japan, so to speak. The powers that be might not exactly want that to happen, so some discreet inquiries are made. They find the right guy in Shinzaemon, A samurai whose time may have passed, but there aren’t too many of the good ones left. That Lord Naritsugu guy? Yeah. Needs to be handled...quietly. That term is subjective. Problem is, not too many other good guys left to help out these days that aren’t already hired swords or bandits or bloggers on the internets or whatever the hell they did back then. Possibly tentacle or schoolgirl related.
Despite being what is another variation on The Magnificent Seven Samurai, this one is done pretty well, not bogging itself down in too many side alleys or bullshit dramas. Still kinda hard to tell a few of the 13 guys apart, but ultimately they fight as a singular weapon to stop the Madness that could result with their failure. Has a couple decent dramatic moments, but mostly it’s a lot of Pompous elite violent fuckeries and SwordFights! Good build-up , and looks fantastic from start to finish. I’ve said it before, Miike is an extraordinary filmmaker, technically and visually, and he doesn’t disappoint here. Nice telling of the final-ish chapter of the Samurai era, without a bunch of the lame-o Hollyweird badges tacked on to ruin it. And it doesn’t dick around with lame backstories, this one is all business. And the business is killing. And business is good.
