BLOOD WORK: CHANBARA ~ WAY OF THE SAMURAI: BLADE OF THE IMMORTAL (2017)

I love samurai films, particularly from Japan's golden age of cinema, the 1950's, 60's, and early 70's. There are outliers too such as SAMURAI REINCARNATION from 1981 and 13 ASSASSINS from 2010. 13 Assassins was directed by a man named Takashi Miike. Takashi Miike has made a lot of movies. A LOT. Some of his most notable have been the horror film AUDITION (1999) and the action film ICHI THE KILLER (2001). I was first introduced to Miike's films with SUKIYAKI WESTERN DJANGO (2007) with a strange and gratuitous appearance by Quentin Tarantino. Of his films, for which I haven't seen over 90% of, 13 Assassins stands as my favorite (of the few I've seen that is).

BLADE OF THE IMMORTAL is Takashi Miike's 100th film (I told you he's made a lot). Based off the manga series of the same name which ran from 1993 to 2012 by Hiroaki Samura, all published in English by Dark Horse Comics. I remember years ago looking for issues of BLADE (the Marvel vampire slayer) online and always encountering issues of Blade of the Immortal in the process (becoming aware of the manga in the process). It's an incredible concept for a story:

"A villainous swordsman is cursed with immortality. Only by atonement for his actions will the curse be lifted. For his atonement he has vowed to kill 1000 evil men." Seriously, is that a badass concept for an action epic or what?

13 Assassins is one of the best samurai films, in my opinion, in terms of story and for containing one of the greatest film climaxes ever. It simultaneously felt like a samurai film from Japan's golden age while possessing modern brutal action, blood, and intensity. When I saw that movie I was blown away and instantly wished there were more samurai movies like it. My wish was granted seven years later with Takashi Miike's Blade of the Immortal.

THE PLOT

Manji was a vassal to a corrupt lord during the Tokugawa Shogunate. Tasked with killing his lord and the accompanying loyal samurai, while in the process Manji slew his brother-in-law before his sister's eyes. The sight drove her mad with grief. Manji took his sister and fled, a large bounty was placed upon him for the deed. His actions lead to his sister's death and what would've been his own death. After slaying his sister's killers, Manji awaited death. Instead, a mysterious nun infected him with strange worms. These "Bloodworms" healed his wounds and stopped his aging, effectively making him immortal. 50 years later Manji meets a young girl named Rin whose parents were brutally murdered. She asks Manji to avenge her parents deaths and kill the men responsible. Manji accepts, not because it's the right thing to do, but because Rin looks identical to his deceased sister.

WHAT I LIKED

Takashi Miike Unleashed. Imagine the bloodiest horror movie you've ever seen merged with the most kick ass action movie you've ever seen and what you get is Takashi Miike's Blade of the Immortal. In the opening scene Miike matches the climax of his own 13 Assassins film (a climax which totals in an over 200 body count). The insanity only goes up from there. By the end of Blade of the Immortal the body count is somewhere upwards of 300 or 400. It is amazing! This movie is unfettered and unrestrained. This movie is action cinema unbound! Takashi Miike just upped the ante for all action movies with this film.

Neo Classical Chanbara. What I especially love about this movie (aside from the tidal wave of violence mentioned above) is the blending of tones from different eras in Japanese cinema. What Miike excels at in 13 Assassins and Hara-Kiri (2011) is recreating the classic Japanese cinematic atmosphere of the 60's and 70's and combining it with modernist levels of action (by this I mean displaying the damage a sword does to a human body). While watching BOTI there were moments where it felt like I was watching an extreme 70's Japanese movie (a la Lone Wolf and Cub or Lady Snowblood), then truly introspective moments from the 60's (evoking thoughts of Sword of Doom or Goyokin). As a fan of movies from those eras, Takashi Miike created the kind of chanbara film from the golden age I always dreamed of.

NITPICKS

I got none other than the fact that it ended. Remember that this is a manga (comic book) based movie and as such it sometimes loses itself in the comic book corners of extremity. What I'm saying is it loses a degree of reality and becomes/feels decidedly fantasy at times. If you're cool with that then it shouldn't be a problem, but it does create an interesting dynamic in storytelling.

THE VERDICT

Blade of the Immortal is samurai movie fare that knows no limits. It is intense and bloody and purely savage. It's based off of a wild manga and as such feels somewhat comic book-esque in its exaggeration. In that embellishment the film goes above and beyond most (if not all) of its action film predecessors. While I feel 13 Assassins is a stronger film for its temperance, Blade of the Immortal answers the question of "what if there was a whole film as intense as the climax of 13 Assassins?" All in all, I loved Blade of the Immortal. It's what I've always wanted to see in a classic chanbara film.

Overall Ranking: 8 out of 10

Nude-O-Meter: 0 out of 10