02-02-2021, 07:42 AM
Review
I recently rewatched the three Rurouni Kenshin movies in anticipation of the fourth and fifth movie coming out this year. If you love sword fights, this is a must watch.
The story revolves around an ex-assassin who is absolutely deadly with a katana. But after winning the war, he vows to never kill ever again, and to protect the weak.
The first movie, “Origins”, mainly focus on our hero and the new bonds he forms with his newfound circle of friends. Story-wise it’s sort of okay. But man, the actions scenes are top-notch. I’ve never seen any sword fights in movies & TV even come close. They are very well choreographed and the camerawork is outstanding. The hero actually wields a reverse-blade sword (the sharp edge faces the wrong way) so the movie has no gore at all, just good old-fashioned action.
Second movie, “Kyoto Inferno” is when we get into the meat of the overarching story. We meet a truly intimidating villain (with a badass opening scene!). Things happened that challenged the hero’s “no killing” rule and my heart broke into pieces. This second movie is more polished, and yes, the fight scenes are even better.
Third movie, “The Legend Ends”, is just epic. They somehow outdid themselves with the fights scenes. Of course, they saved the best for the final showdown between the hero and the big bad.
Are these movies perfect? No. They’re a live-action adaptation of Japanese comics and anime. Just like any adaptation, you simply can’t compress a long story into a few movies. But this is one of the better adaptations out there. They smartly dropped a few plot points to make a more lean story. I do feel a certain ninja character should be dropped altogether in return for a deeper look into the backstory of one interesting henchman but that’s just me.
Overall, superb action, good acting, beautiful shots, and a powerful story. There are some light and funny moments too (especially the first movie) and they balanced it really well.
I recently rewatched the three Rurouni Kenshin movies in anticipation of the fourth and fifth movie coming out this year. If you love sword fights, this is a must watch.
The story revolves around an ex-assassin who is absolutely deadly with a katana. But after winning the war, he vows to never kill ever again, and to protect the weak.
The first movie, “Origins”, mainly focus on our hero and the new bonds he forms with his newfound circle of friends. Story-wise it’s sort of okay. But man, the actions scenes are top-notch. I’ve never seen any sword fights in movies & TV even come close. They are very well choreographed and the camerawork is outstanding. The hero actually wields a reverse-blade sword (the sharp edge faces the wrong way) so the movie has no gore at all, just good old-fashioned action.
Second movie, “Kyoto Inferno” is when we get into the meat of the overarching story. We meet a truly intimidating villain (with a badass opening scene!). Things happened that challenged the hero’s “no killing” rule and my heart broke into pieces. This second movie is more polished, and yes, the fight scenes are even better.
Third movie, “The Legend Ends”, is just epic. They somehow outdid themselves with the fights scenes. Of course, they saved the best for the final showdown between the hero and the big bad.
Are these movies perfect? No. They’re a live-action adaptation of Japanese comics and anime. Just like any adaptation, you simply can’t compress a long story into a few movies. But this is one of the better adaptations out there. They smartly dropped a few plot points to make a more lean story. I do feel a certain ninja character should be dropped altogether in return for a deeper look into the backstory of one interesting henchman but that’s just me.
Overall, superb action, good acting, beautiful shots, and a powerful story. There are some light and funny moments too (especially the first movie) and they balanced it really well.
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