Manji, a highly skilled samurai, becomes cursed with immortality after a legendary battle. Haunted by the brutal murder of his sister, Manji knows that only fighting evil will regain his soul. 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.
I get the sense that Takashi Miike really feels self-confident with making more and more samurai movies. Here we are, and yet another bloodbath is upon us. 13 Assassins (2010) showed that Miike can churn out something gory as #!%&*, but still maintain a serious storyline and mature characters. With Blade of the Immortal, which is based on a manga, it's all a lot more comic book-like. There's undead warriors and fighters with super strength you'll only see in, well, a manga. The fights and over-the-top samurai clashes are all very well-done, but it could have benefitted from having maybe a deeper (and shorter) story, and maybe re-write or remove the young girl from the film because she doesn't add anything except screams.
Still, Blade of the Immortal is an extremely violent and impressive film. If one should have the urge to watch a modern, bloody katana fest, look no further. It also happens to be Miike's 100th film, so congratulations to him!
Genre: Action/Drama
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