In cinemas September 13th 2014 in Japan and March 6th 2015 in the UK!
Starting as one of Japan’s most popular manga comics, ‘Kenshin the Wanderer: The Romance of a Meiji Swordsman’ by Nobuhiro Watsuki, the story was first transferred into motion picture with the release of ‘Rurouni Kenshin’ in 2012 and was met with huge enthusiasm. A commercial film combining unparalleled speed and overwhelming action in a moving human drama, ushering Japanese film into a new era. In 2014, the second film in the franchise, ‘Rurouni Kenshin 2: Kyoto Inferno’, was released and now we find ourselves at the final part of the “Kyoto Arc” with ‘Rurouni Kenshin 3: The Legend Ends’.
I’ll be honest. I was a little apprehensive about watching this film. Coming from a purely Western background and with limited knowledge of Manga and its epic stories, I worried about being lost in a world I did not understand. Luckily for me this is a film made for an expansive audience. Although true to its origins it is also, in its most basic form, a damn good action movie.
Opening with a beautiful expansive shot of a world torn apart, we are first shown how Kenshin met his mentor Seijuro Hiko (played by the brilliantly snarky Masaharu Fukuyama). Not only are we introduced to Kenshin’s beginnings, but this starting shot sets the bar for the image of the film as a whole. It is stunning. Hats off to the cinematographer, Takuro Ishizaka.
Then we rejoin the film at the point where Kyoto Inferno left off. Kenshin has been left for dead and wakes up in his mentor’s home with no idea what has happened to his friends or love Kaoru (Emi Takei). He knows that he must retrain and find his strength so that he can finally defeat Shishio (Tatsuya Fujiwara), who is storming to Tokyo in his iron clad ship to bring down the Meiji government and return Japan to chaos. Much of the film is following various small storylines of the splintered group, building up to the epic climactic showdown between Kenshin and Shishio.
The films true strength lies in its ability to mix stunning action with true and relatable characters. A very human element within the spectacle. A key part of this is Kenshin Himura himself played by Takeru Sato. At the beginning of the film he beautifully portrays a broken man, at once angry, distraught and defeated. You watch him transform throughout until, by the end, he is the confident, strutting, action hero that you wish for. Also of note, bringing the fun and classic comic book bad-assery (yes that is a word) are Sanosuke Sagara (Munetaka Aoki) and Hajime Saito (Yôsuke Eguchi). The first continuing to fire burning quips to his enemies even in the midst of a fight to the death and the second as a sort of Kick-ass James Dean character who only takes a cigarette out of his mouth long enough to, quite literally, cut someone down to size and then promptly relights.
All in all, if you like a great bit of action with strong characters and lots of fun (and let’s face it, who doesn’t) this is one to watch.
Review by Melanie Crossey.
See this review on The Fan Carpet.
See this review on The Fan Carpet.
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