He meets little Rin played by Hana Sugisaki. Once we jump into the present nearly 50 years later, the story for him becomes a 'same crap, different day' kind of routine. A beautiful black and white segment starts the film off with as much backstory as you need in a film like this. He hires himself to protect a child, but when things don't go as planned, he suffers what someone of his culture deems to be a fate worse than dying dishonorably: immortality and not being able to die at all.
Even if it won't turn any heads for originality, the story is laid out for all to see. Once again, Miike picks up the samurai sword to deliver a spastic, brutal, yet surprisingly deeply structured character story. I reviewed that years ago and gave it a glowing (4 1/2 stars). The most notable of the bunch is '13 Assassins'. It is quite the feat for a man who has really only released a handful internationally. Overall, Blade of the Immortal is a little too long but is still one of the best action movies you’ll see this year and a satisfying 100 th movie from a master director.Blade of the Immortal caps director Takashi Miike's directing career at 100 films over his decade-long career. A particular favourite is when Rin is mourning the death of her family and Manji sits down in front of her and says “if you need a shoulder to cry on, use mine” making him immediately appealing as our cursed hero. The movie surprised me with its sense of humour too which some nice dialogue moments as well as some gentle character moments. I liked the main villain Anotsu Kagehisa (Sôta Fukushi) who despite having flaws ends up being more interesting than you’d first expect and is every bit the badass that Manji is… without the immortality. She mostly just stands around crying while Manji kicks everyone’s ass. many making the movie essentially a 2 and a half hour sword fight.Īdmittedly it is far too long and I found Rin’s (Hana Sugisaki) constant shouting grating which made her quite unlikable. Limbs are chopped off at regular intervals and the battles range from one on one sword fights to one vs. I’m pretty sure the bodycount for this movie is around 300 so samurai fans are going to lap this up. He is a man of few words and lets his blade do most of the talking which is profoundly satisfying. He agrees because she reminds him of his sister so the adventure and slaughter begins. Many years later he meets a young girl called Rin who wants him to avenge her parents. Takuya Kimura is unbelievably badass as the immortal lead Manji a man known as the Hundred Killer after his exploits in the opening scene of the film where his sister is slain. I’m pleased to report that it is destined to become a modern samurai classic with memorable characters and lashings of blood. Review: Takashi Miike’s 100 th movie Blade of the Immortal has been lavished with praise since it came out a few weeks ago so I thought it was time I sat down and gave it a watch. The mission will change Manji in ways he could never imagine. He promises to help a young girl named Rin avenge her parents, who were killed by a group of master swordsmen led by ruthless warrior Anotsu. Haunted by the brutal murder of his sister, Manji knows that only fighting evil will regain his soul.
Plot: Manji, a highly skilled samurai, becomes cursed with immortality after a legendary battle. Blade of the Immortal is one of the best movies of the year with a high bodycount and plenty of style.