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| Awesome Movie Poster, by Magnet Releasing |
This movie in general was rather intense. I'm normally a big fan of Kurosawa like films (including the ones that Kurosawa himself did), so that this was fun for me wasn't a huge surprise. The main characters in 7 Samurai 13 assassins were for the most part well developed, especially the main few. The movie is subtitled, which isn't a huge surprise for those that watch a lot of old school feeling Japanese action / war movies. It's hard not to be a fan of this level of drama and raw action. But then again I grew up on movies like Ran and The Hidden Fortress (yes, a joke / reference, I do know the difference). Take a look at the trailer:
At it's essence, the movie comes down to there being this evil guy, Lord Naritsugu. I don't use the term lightly. I mean if you took Darth Vader and stapled him to Hitler, not only would this guy be more evil, but prettier. Now Lord Naritsugu is the brother and adopted son of the current Shogun (Emperor more or less), and he takes this position to mean it's ok for him rape and murder his way around Japan while he takes tea or visits his summer home. I mean the rape and murder thing literally, they don't pull any punches in this movie when convincing you just how many shits Lord Naritsugu gives about any other human being. The advisors closest to the Shogun realize it's probably not the best idea for this douchenozzle to be next in line to be Shogun, so they conspire to secretly approach Shinzaemon (more or less the old wise master samurai of the movie) to quietly get rid of their problem. They have some serious and sometimes wacky adventures while gathering the other title required 12 assassins, then march off to meet Lord Naritsugu on his way back to his home prefecture. They set up a rather complicated trap involving booby trapping an entire town in a way that Jigsaw would have been impressed with. When Lord Naritsugu shows up, zOMG, way more guys than they expected... or really thought possible. Massive fight much samurai badassishness. Queue boss fight. Roll credits.
Taking it from the angle of a Japanese samurai flick, there is plenty of violence, a sprinkling of hari-kari, and more than a few desperate last stands. What kept amazing me were the Schwarzeneggeresque one liners that kept popping up. Quoting them directly here would lessen the impact. In context many of the lines in the movie created a feeling of... if I dare say "Epic" throughout the movie. Not just the moments where someone you thought was brilliant dies or takes out a dozen guards by themselves, but also in the moments of reflection between the combat scenes. The overall story was amazingly solid.
Seeing Samurai 7 13 Assassins in theaters was much different than I originally expected. The audience really got into it, leaning forward, hanging on every moment of intensity. The crowd wasn't large by any means, but I rarely heard anyone speak. I think the movie had us caught in a web of some sort. There were times I forgot I was even sitting in a seat rather than floating as some sort of disembodied presence following a rag-tag band of samurai. As you may have noticed by my cross outs, there are a lot of similarities that can be drawn between 13 Assassins and 7 Samurai. That's my biggest problem with this movie. I was having literal in movie flash backs to 7 Samurai while watching 13 Assassins. Almost to the point of it not being an homage, but a slight remake. Ok, not quite that extreme. It's lack of originality is the biggest problem I have with the movie. You'll really enjoy it if you have no problem re-watching Kurosawa films. Not so much if you're looking for something to really inspire you or take you some place new.
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| E Street Cinema Front by E Street |
As for E Street Cinemas itself, I don't really have any complaints. They've managed to stay open for as long as they have by carving out their own niche. They show almost exclusively independent bizarre movies. I find myself randomly checking their viewing list for any movie that sounds somewhat interesting. The theaters themselves are small without being crowded. Intimate is probably a more accurate word. The staff is nice and it's remarkably clean. I wonder if they would let us do a geek movie marathon at some point. Sounds like a good venue for that.
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