Azumi (2003)

This movie lacks it all: a coherent storyline, believable acting, plausible special effects, originality, any sense of the human condition, etc. Essentially, the plot is an excuse to drop a bunch of pop-idol-y naifs from one manufactured "peril" to another.

Exploitive and gratuitous plot devices (the "heroes" having to slaughter their own friends to prove their dedication to the "mission"; attempted rapes whenever the plot slows down; crazed sadistic killers with no apparent explanation for their behavior other than raw villiany) should shock, but they ultimately provoke more boredom than outrage.

I would lighten up and focus on the "action" and "special effects", but the movie can't even satisfy on this level. The cheesy "digital blood" effects are completely unconvincing, as are the fighting scenes themselves. (Look, I can _almost_ accept Tatsuya Nakadai or Toshiro Mifune slicing their way through 50 opponents in 5 minutes, but some tiny little pop-singer with "Power Rangers"-style posing?) It's a shame that so much money was blown on _bad_ digital effects. I think the audience would be much more forgiving had they simply tried the tried and true analog effects. They certainly couldn't have looked any worse.

Don't get me wrong -- I wasn't expecting a Kurosawa epic here. But whatever happened to the quality "chambara" films of the 1960s? I'd recommend seeing anything directed by Hideo Gosha or Kihachi Okamoto, or hell, just something from the Zatoichi series -- before recommending this one. Even the "Lone Wolf" series is more entertaining, from a sheer popcorn-munching entertainment perspective.

Saving graces: Very pretty cinematography and exterior sets. The art direction deserves kudos, but everyone else deserves a slap.

If you want to see a recent chambara film that displays an iota of intelligence, characterization, intelligent camera work, as well as amazing swordfighting, I recommend "Gohatto" (a/k/a "Taboo").

Fmovies: OK, so I was settling down for 2 hours of fun nonsense, I love a good samurai flick... but i had to resist the urge to dump this movie after an hour, but i stuck with it hoping maybe for a great finale.... but it never came.

This could have been a great movie - they had the budget, some great supporting actors, a fun idea. But the whole thing lacked conviction. The fight sequences were well set up, but fell between the two stools of the hard realism of 'Zatoichi' or 'Twilight Samuri', or balletic grace of a Zhang Yimou action flick. The main problem is the actors - has there ever been a more wimpy bunch of action hero's? Aya Ueto is completely unconvincing, Michelle Yeoh would use this girl as a toothpick. The script seems to have been written by a bored 15 year old on a wet afternoon. Is it too much to expect a bit of wit and some good dialogue, even from a cartoon action movie? The vague attempts to give the characters depth were embarrassingly bad. The cinematography was straight out of a cheap afternoon TV movie.

The only really good thing about this movie is the baddies - a good range of character actors doing fun turns - but when i find myself wishing that the bad guys would cut up the good guys I know the movies onto a loser.

I really wish i could say something nicer about this movie, but I really feel it was 2 hours lost from my life.

I'm not too familiar with Japanese cinema – especially the Chambara genre – but I had come across director Ryuhei Kitamura's cult favourite Versus a couple of weeks before viewing this flick, so I wasn't expecting great things. Versus, which Kitamura wrote and directed, was simply a collection of mindless gore sequences lacking any kind of storyline, that was, frankly, one long bore. Sometimes, the term 'cult' seems to be a euphemism for 'popular with undemanding teen horror-fiends'.

Luckily, Kitamura handed over the writing duties to Yu Koyama, creator of the Manga comic script upon which it's based, and producer Mataichiro Yamamoto, and I only hope Kitamura steers clear of his lap-top from now on, because Azumi is an absolute pearl of a movie that seems to revel in the mythical warrior story it relates. True, there is a huge amount of bloodletting (the death toll runs into the multiple-hundreds, and we get to see them all in vibrant in-your-face bloody colour), but there is also a reasonable – if a tad simple and clichéd – storyline, and, for this type of movie, a lot of attention is given to character development.

Japanese teen-star Aya Ueto plays the eponymous heroine, an orphaned waif rescued from the roadside by a master warrior and his small entourage of equally waif-like protégés.  Hidden from the world until they reach their late teens, this unlikely 'family' is trained in the art of swordplay by their master as preparation for their mission to rid the country of three troublesome warlords who are committing wholesale slaughter throughout the land.

Half of these orphans are killed within fifteen minutes of the opening credits, and the manner in which their deaths are contrived serves notice that this is to be no ordinary mindless action flick. By subjecting the survivors to such a horrifying ordeal, the writers slickly manoeuvre the audience into identifying with the previously nondescript bunch in a matter of minutes, where less accomplished writers would have needed half-a-dozen scenes to achieve anything approaching the same result and probably convey little of the emotional impact created by Koyama and Yamamoto.

Ueto, while looking far too cute to be a fierce warrior, gives a good account of herself. Kitamura even plays on this by having a rival assassin enthusing over her cuteness as they do battle – and moments before she runs him through with her sword. Ueto may make an unlikely assassin, but – crucially – she doesn't make an unbelievable one.

This film is crammed with memorable characters and scenes: the fey but deadly bad guy, Bijomaru (Jo Odagiri, looking like an undernourished Phil Oakey, c.1983), decked out in flowing white robes and carrying a red rose, who giggles with glee when fighting a worthy foe, and swishes his sword distractedly through the long grass as he observes the effect of the latest wound he has inflicted upon his adversary; Saru, the warlord's sidekick, possessor of an astounding hairdo and a habit of uttering monkey noises as he fights, and Azumi herself, who is never just a cipher, but who questions the validity of her mission at every turn, and resists, futilely, the life that has been mapped out for her. Cinematographer Takumi Furuya's kinetic camera-work is also worth mentioning – especially the astounding sequence in the climactic battle between Azumi and Bijomaru, during which the camera vertically rotates 360 degrees around the action.

Azumi is a real barnstormer of a mov

Azumi fmovies. I'll be quick. The photo is sometimes fantastic and usually great. Cgi is nice, but is too cheap/flawed in some occasions, one example is the birds in the beginning.

I can't decide on an opinion on the fight scenes, either the choreography is quite bad and editing is good at hiding that, or editing wastes choreography.

Story is silly, but it should be, I got no problem with that.

Acting is acceptable for this kind of movie, is think. Sometimes it really stinks, but I blame the director for that.

Directing, the directing is a real disappointment, terrible. Timing is often way off. Characters are undeveloped and some scenes are composed really bad.

Overall good movie but with uneven quality. Best guess is that they just ran out of money.

I think that this movie is not just about warriors...is about their choices..power to accept that the good sometimes become evil... what is good some peoples it's bad for others...some scenes are so beautiful that they can make you cry... I think I can see this movie a million times for the man in white and the woman in black...to understand which of them is the good one and what is evil one...to understand the power of red color...The Japanese made from this film a paint same as "Hero".. Maybe for the majority of people who experienced this movie it's just an action movie but for me is a very special... See this film because first of all is a very entertaining!

My general impression about this movie was that it was too short, despite being about 140 minutes in length. I continued to think at least an hour after i've seen it.

The plot was good. Although the major point of this movie are the fight scenes, which were spectacular, they aren't leading the movie but are being led by the story. Again, the movie reveals to us the sternness of the Japanese character, one that never looks back and ready to achieve he's goal whatever the cost is. It also shows how small is the "life value" in their world.

The acting is good, the dialogs are all in place ( no scenes where the characters are saying things that are pretty obvious for themselves, and make them look stupid) and most of the characters are great. The Heroine Azumi is great. Beautiful, powerful but also shows her feminine side. She's determined in her mission to kill the warlords and has no second opinion about it. I also like the the teacher's character which i think represents the cold, brute mind ( heart ) of that time when life wasn't worth much. My favorite character is Kanbe'e. Shrewd, skillful samurai, that doesn't afraid to give his life or the life of his soldiers to protect his warlord. A very realistic character.

The character I didn't like is Bijomaru, Assassin with a flower. I think he's the only major flaw in this movie. He seems to be "too insane" and skillful at the same time and doesn't fit. More like a villain in the Chinese Kong Fu movies.

Fight scenes are great, no much to add. The visual effects and the wire work is great also. The score is unbelievable. It fits the movie perfectly and keeps you alert.

There is some resemblance to the Chinese "Hero" with jet Li. The main idea of both of the films is the same: A bunch of assassins tries to kill warlord(s). Although the visual effects in Hero are much better and the fights are impressive also, I still got lost in the movie's dialogs trying to understand the meaning of what was said and sometimes looked for the watch. The Chinese movies ( especially Hero ) concentrates largely on their philosophy, which makes them look a bit awkward, and less on the plot, which seems to stand still. Azumi "compensates" the philosophy time with ongoing plot and a lot of action, also providing us with some feelings for the characters.

If I had to choose between the two, I definitely would choose the Japanese movie.

Overall i enjoyed it much and would recommend it to anyone that likes action and does care for the plot.