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This artistic fighting film is insanely paced within the realm of the placid and predictable Japanese genre hybrids which has sprung from the majority of the team that brought us VERSUS. This film happens to be extremely cool and quite a surprising. The story goes like this: Grave (Tak Sakaguchi) steals a coffin from a monastery and drags it around with a small child following close behind. A lone monk pursues him in order to regain the coffin. Everyone thinks the coffin will grant you wishes but it actually houses a Goddess of Destruction (Yoko Fujita) who was banished from heaven. The little girl (Honoka Asada) represents the spirit of the Goddess of Destruction. She seems to be tormenting Grave for taking the coffin, by keeping him from eating/sleeping. You'll notice that she eats his food at the bar, and that right before the pig comes to life, she giggles. She is likely the cause for the dead rising right before he entered the gate as well. So that only the strongest person could have it perhaps? Director Yuji Shimomura, who choreographed the action in VERSUS, should get credit for making such a neat film, that, despite sharing the same lead, sets itself apart from VERSUS. It is essentially a period piece except people sometimes use guns and ride motorcycles. There are some truly surreal set pieces (a human spider forest, a sword fight where blood floats around the participants, dead angels falling from heaven) and great fights. But the most refreshing thing about the film is the amount of dry humor. One of the co-stars is Steven Seagal's son Kentaro (has his father's hairline) who is quite good as comic relief Sid. Kentaro also happens to be the brother of Ayako Fujitani. Also notice when Yuri (Yuki Takeuchi), the wingless angel is banging on the coffin, the girl starts to cry, or how she seems to just appear some places (falling down as Grave walks away, only to appear again on the coffin itself). The little girl in the movie has a really creepy laugh....It's just the same sound, over and over again. It sounds like a baby crying. The actress Mela Lee does the English dub here and does an excellent job. She may even be the reason people are drawn to the coffin, and willing to die over the rumors of never-ceasing peace and power. I'm guessing the majority of the Goddess' power is in the coffin as well as her body, and that the little girl is a "dream" she is having. The symbols on the swords represent fertility and power coming from Buddha (which appear to resemble sex organs). Chuck Johnson should be mentioned as he was the giant muscleman that had the huge dagger behind his head. The master was played by Osamu Takahashi. Hiroko Yashiki apppears in this film but I can't remember what her character is called. The Archbishop is played by Ben Hiura. Dir en Grey did the music for this film. It sometimes makes you ears feel like they might start bleeding (which is a different kind of bleed unlike just the soundtrack being total explosions like Transformers II). I'm going to give this an average rating of 3/5 because, even though it's fun to watch, it happens to be quite predictable and slow at times. Also the mixing of motorcycles into old time sword fighting doesn't really go together in my opinion. IF YOU LIKE MY REVIEWS, DON'T HESITATE TO LET ME KNOW BY VOTING. THANKS!Read full review
I like this movie and decided to buy it because of the lead actor Tak Sakaguchi. Tak Sakaguchi was in "Versus" which I loved and he stared in a lot of other movies with the same people from "Versus". There is some really cool special effects. It is an blend of old and futuristic.The little girl who follows him around is cute. I will give you a little hint there is something weird about that little girl. The action is over the top with plenty of sword play with no end in sight. There are a few slow parts like any movie. Some times there are parts where it goes so fast that you feel like you miss something. I feel like they could have gone into a little more detail with the storyline and some of the main characters. The ending was good! But,was there an ending? You would have to buy,watch and see.Read full review
It's kind of like Versus, except with more plot, less gore. It is genuinely funny and very fast paced, so that you don't even notice 90 minutes pass by. The action is awesome, as it should be since Tak was the action director. I can't stop watching it over and over, and already infected my friends with it. The only possible problem is the ending, which is very frustrating and offers no resolution, so be prepared.
This is definitely the best movie I've seen with Tak Saguichi. The OST is filled with metal grinds by Dir En Grey, and the characters and action sequences are stunning. The movie was just how I expected it to be, if not better. I can easily watch it several times before it even gets slightly dull.
Martial arts fans need this film for their collection. A mixture of fantasy,fun,and martial arts action. Movie with good pace to the action. Buy this one.
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