13 Assassins User Reviews

• Add

I love samurai stories, movies, and books. I count ran as one of my all time favorite films, and shogun is my favorite book. With this in mind I was probably always going to like 13 assassins but I was surprised by how much I really enjoyed it.

The story follows samurai Shinzaemon Shimada as he is tasked by the minister for justice to remove the current shoguns heir before he can take his place on the shoguns council and lead the country to a new age of chaos. He begins putting together a group of able samurai who are willing to sell their lives for the good of the people. Before they can put their plan into action they must first prepare, and come to terms with the leaders bodyguards ability as he is an old friend of Shinzaemon.

There was a lot I really liked about this film but it's strongest part is the work of the director, Takashi Miike. He has crafted a superb film from beginning to end. The cast he has assembled is superb at the roles they are assigned, and his choice of location really adds to the films look. The final action sequences are extremely entertaining and brutal when required, but without seeming to be over the top. Miike also does very well with the more subtle dramatic moments as well as give the viewer some disturbing images, the poor girl has stuck in my mind and is freaking me out.

The cast is also superb and work brilliantly together. While they are all very good the two that stood out were Kôji Yakusho as Shinzaemon and Gorô Inagaki as the evil Lord Naritsugu Matsudaira. Yakusho is suitably impressive as the master samurai and swordsman. He is charming, charismatic, and likeable in the lead role and proves to be a solid lead for the film. Every hero needs a good villain and Inagaki is a brilliant bad guy. He is truly unlikeable and repulsive with his actions. He carries out his role superbly and is a memorable bad guy.

The final point I have to make is that the action in the film is really good, but the first hour setting up the team as well as the political motivations are just as good. The action is fast, bloody and brutal, with the political plotting and the cat and mouse tension is just the same.

In conclusion I rate this as one of the best films I have seen this year and one of the best samurai films I have seen in a while. There is only one thing I would like to change and that is it would have been nice for there to have been some samurai armour in it. This is easy to recommend and if you like samurai films it is essential.