Ah man this just felt good
It feels like it’s been so long since I’ve indulged in a standalone film for my fav sub genre and here we are
Convoluted as the plot is, it ties up a shocking amount of its loose ends and files down a lot of the original untidiness of the narrative 
It’s dense and there’s a lot of information and names and places thrown at you that you don’t really need, but you kind of sieve through it as it comes 

Character wise the lead plays an interesting arc that would’ve been nice to see fleshed out a bit more, just so certain choices that were made would feel more intentional maybe 
Like at first his sword style felt very off-balance and haphazardly which gradually became his strength 
But taking it at face-value, I think most of it comes across as a guy getting fucked over (betrayed) by a system rigged against him from the get go 

The music was really surprisingly great too 
But woah where this really shined was that final climax 
It is criminal i hadn’t heard of this until today 
That sets such an example for how these battles-against-all-odds can work out impressively 
Not just bodies after bodies but actual weight and inventive camerawork and how the set interacts with the frame 
It’s so important and really elevates the sequence here
Like The Sword of Doom for example yk 
And a nice sprinkle of excellent moments where the camera felt more dynamic 
A steady zoom or a pan from the mountains revealing something only the audience can understand
Small things like these that can draw you in 
I’m not sure if I’ll ever find a chanbara that really feeds my craving of these shots consistently, but there were enough here it’s well worth praising 

Overall could’ve been stronger, but only via nitpicks 
It tosses and turns and then erupts 
Still contained and still hopeless in triumph and delivery all the same

Ah man this just felt good
It feels like it’s been so long since I’ve indulged in a standalone film for my fav sub genre and here we are
Convoluted as the plot is, it ties up a shocking amount of its loose ends and files down a lot of the original untidiness of the narrative 
It’s dense and there’s a lot of information and names and places thrown at you that you don’t really need, but you kind of sieve through it as it comes 

Character wise the lead plays an interesting arc that would’ve been nice to see fleshed out a bit more, just so certain choices that were made would feel more intentional maybe 
Like at first his sword style felt very off-balance and haphazardly which gradually became his strength 
But taking it at face-value, I think most of it comes across as a guy getting fucked over (betrayed) by a system rigged against him from the get go 

The music was really surprisingly great too 
But woah where this really shined was that final climax 
It is criminal i hadn’t heard of this until today 
That sets such an example for how these battles-against-all-odds can work out impressively 
Not just bodies after bodies but actual weight and inventive camerawork and how the set interacts with the frame 
It’s so important and really elevates the sequence here
Like The Sword of Doom for example yk 
And a nice sprinkle of excellent moments where the camera felt more dynamic 
A steady zoom or a pan from the mountains revealing something only the audience can understand
Small things like these that can draw you in 
I’m not sure if I’ll ever find a chanbara that really feeds my craving of these shots consistently, but there were enough here it’s well worth praising 

Overall could’ve been stronger, but only via nitpicks 
It tosses and turns and then erupts 
Still contained and still hopeless in triumph and delivery all the same