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Legendary director Takashi Miike’s 100th film is an interminable samurai gorefest—and not in a good way. This is the tale of Manji (Takuya Kimura), a swordsman who cannot die after a witch feeds him “blood worms,” drawing him back from a nasty death, in the wake of a gruesome battle. Fifty years later, he takes up the revenge cause of young Rin (Hana Sugisaki), orphaned when samurai of a lawless dojo attacked her family. She reminds him of his dead sister, the lawless dojo must be stopped, and so the film is off on what will be a monotonous series of bloody sword battles. Sometimes it’s accidentally funny in a Monty Python–esque way (“Your arm’s off!”). Mostly it’s overly convoluted while also failing to deviate from its one emotional note, a sort of gray resignation that fails to take any pleasure in over-the-top vengeance. There’s never any escalation or complication to the story—it’s just one fight after another—and the stakes are really low, since Manji literally cannot die. It might be tolerable as a 90-minute flick; at 140 minutes, it’s inexcusable.
Official Site: www.bladeoftheimmortalfilm.com
Director: Takashi Miike
Producer: Hiroyoshi Koiwai, Peter Watson, Shigeji Maeda, Misako Saka and Jeremy Thomas
Cast: Takuya Kimura, Hana Sugisaki, Sôta Fukushi, Hayato Ichihara, Erika Toda, Kazuki Kitamura, Chiaki Kuriyama, Shinnosuke Mitsushima, Yoko Yamamoto, Ebizô Ichikawa, Min Tanaka and Tsutomu Yamazaki
Director: Takashi Miike
Producer: Hiroyoshi Koiwai, Peter Watson, Shigeji Maeda, Misako Saka and Jeremy Thomas
Cast: Takuya Kimura, Hana Sugisaki, Sôta Fukushi, Hayato Ichihara, Erika Toda, Kazuki Kitamura, Chiaki Kuriyama, Shinnosuke Mitsushima, Yoko Yamamoto, Ebizô Ichikawa, Min Tanaka and Tsutomu Yamazaki
