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Director: Takashi Miike
Screenwriter: Daisuke Tengan
Starring: Koji Yakusho, Takayuki Yamada, Yusuke Iseya, Goro Inagaki, Masachika Ichimura
Synopsis
As the era of the samurai is coming to an end, the Shogun’s younger sadistic brother Lord Naritsugu (Inagaki) becomes a threat for Feudal Japan when he ascends to a higher political position. When Shinzaemon (Yakusho) is secretly hired to assassinate the young lord, he recruits a group of assassins for this suicide mission.
Review
Fifty years old and Takashi Miike has directed more than fifty films, ranging from violent and bizarre to dramatic and family-friendly, although for international audiences, he’s known for the former. For this critic, my opinion towards his work is mixed, as I absolutely loved Audition (which responded a woman to shout at the director: “You’ve evil!”), but really didn’t like Ichi the Killer (in which its ultra-violence got in the way of a really compelling story).
In the case of his latest to be internationally released: 13 Assassins, my opinion is somewhere in the middle. Adapted from Eiichi Kudo’s 1963 film, this factually-inspired samurai tale is one half of an interesting character drama and the other half is one giant action set-piece. Despite the opening promise of a political drama about power and honour, the film basically depicts Lord Naritsugu as the spoilt antagonist with such violent nature, while the eponymous heroic group has only one purpose which is the mission.
A number of people have compared 13 Assassins to Kurosawa’s classic Seven Samurai, to which I somewhat disagree. Miike’s film does have comparisons with Kurosawa’s film such as the ensemble of the titular group, the planning of the mission and finally the tragic action-packed climax. However Seven Samurai never wasted its three-plus hours due to the complex characterisations, the group dynamics and the fear of a tragic denouement, something in which 13 Assassins lacks.
If you’re a fan of his stylish direction, you will enjoy this as Takashi Miike isn’t afraid of showing the violence including an awful lot of hack-and-slash, since this is a samurai film. Miike provides a sense of intrigue throughout even with the flawed screenplay as the first half keeps everything moving at an easy pace while the second half is literally an epic action sequence in which a quiet town turns a bloody warzone.
Although they spend the last forty-five minutes screaming, swinging their blades and drenched in blood, some of the male-dominant cast have their moment to shine such as Babel’s Koji Yakusho has such magnetic presence, particularly in samurai fashion. As for Goro Inagaki as the villainous lord is a quintessential Miike-styled character whose violent actions is what defines his role and the actor captures that very essence.
Verdict
One half is an interesting drama of power and honour; another is all action with a lot of cleaving. Both halves worked but the film as a whole, lacks greatness despite strong expectations.
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Printable Version
13 Assassins - 
Rather than plodding I thought the build up was well done and felt right. The only thing that I didn't like was the CGI bulls. At first sight I thought "yes" but very quickly that thought disappeared. A small gripe in a great film though. 
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