By Jason Haskins
Takashi Miike may not be a household name, but he sure is one on the streets. Through the last twenty odd years, he’s crafted some of the most depraved (Ichi the Killer ), disturbing (Visitor Q), and downright bizarre (The Happiness of the Katakuris) films, whilst also redefining Japanese shock cinema. Call him a genius or pervert, but he’s had a varied career. Perhaps the film he's best known for stateside is a beloved horror/romance movie: Audition.
One of his newest films is a remake of Eiichi Kudo’s film from 1963 called 13 Assassins. Watching this alongside some of his other works—even The Bird People in China—lend credibility to his prowess as a filmmaker, as he’s constantly trying new things. Here he resurrects the dwindling Samurai genre and makes something akin to Akira Kurosawa’s Seven Samurai with a ton of his own flair.
The film is set in the 1840s when the samurai were dwindling in numbers and public opinion and politics were changing, making it one of the most exciting and feudal times in Japan. A sadistic shogun’s son is quickly on track to become the next ruler of Japan when a lone older samurai gets hired to kill him. Alone, he must enlist a number of other samurai to ambush this lord on his way through a town. The hope is that his death will maintain the fragile peace of the region. However, orchestrating the entire assassination and then executing it might be trickier than he thinks when discovering they are outnumbered by about 20:1.
13 Assassins is pretty bad ass. The final battle sequence of the film is literally forty minutes long with twenty of those minutes being nonstop action. Whoever said that fight scenes had to be brief in order to keep the audience’s attention were clearly wrong. Miike displays some of his best moments as a filmmaker in this action sequence. He adds so much subtlety layered on top of the downright epic sequences of explosions, sword fights, arrows, and rocks-to-faces. It’s violent, it’s ultra-realistic, stylized and choreographed so exceptionally well you might very well pee yourself.
That’s not to say that the first half of the movie isn’t slow. On my initial watch I was a little bit confused because of how many characters were introduced and what subplots were brewing, but on my second watch everything made much more sense and I think I enjoyed it more. This slow pacing in the beginning is actually warranted because you accumulate experience with the characters throughout the movie so that by the final moments you are familiar with them and respect them.
In a lot of ways, this film is Miike’s honoring of Japanese cinema—primarily by Akira Kurosawa as references abound. I think that he’s crafted another solid movie that is much more accessible than some of his more outlandish films that people shy away from. This isn’t only relevant as a cool, stylish action movie, but has an amazing metaphor to it that’s directly touching in this day and age of war and shifting political ideals. 13 Assassins is a flawless piece of filmmaking and a shining example of the samurai genre.
5 out of 5 stars
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