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13 ASSASSINS (2011) (***1/2)

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With this film, Takashi Miike has made his most accessible movie to date. I'd argue it is his best because it is tighter and less obsessed with shock than any of his previous work. Some might say this ode to the samurai genre, especially the work of Akira Kurasawa, is his least daring, but his daring sometimes doesn't make for a compelling story. This is an actioner done the right way.

Set in 1844 when the reign of the samurai was coming to an end, a samurai commits seppuku in protest of the political advancement of Lord Naritsugu (Goro Inagaki, SAIMIN), the son of the former shogun and the brother of the current one. He is a ruthless sadist, who enjoys murder, torture and rape as a form of control over the peasants. Top official Sir Doi (Mikijiro Hira, SWORD OF THE BEAST) makes the decision to have Naritsugu assassinated and calls on veteran samurai Shinzaemon (Koji Takusho, SHALL WE DANCE?), who when found is fishing on a ladder in the ocean. Shinzaemon is eager to take the job. He shakes at the thought of having a noble death.

As is a staple of the genre, he seeks out some of the last remaining samurai to recruit them for the virtual suicide mission to ambush Lord Naritsugu's convoy. He can only find 13 to go against 70. When the epic battle begins, the 13 will be facing 200. But these are distinguished samurai and they have tricks up their sleeves.

Like any good samurai flick, Miike takes his time establishing his characters, so that when the action starts we are captivated with how their personalities come out in battle. Shinzaemon's right hand man is Kuranaga (Hiroki Matsukata, SHOGUN'S SAMURAI), who shows that age hasn't slowed his skills with the sword. When Shinzaemon finds his nephew Shimada (Takayuki Yamada, THE CAT RETURNS) he is gambling in a whorehouse. Fans of the genre might expect that his character is the one that legend Toshiro Mifune would have played, but he's not. Hirayama (Tsuyoshi Ihara, LETTERS FROM IWO JIMA) is the quiet killer much like Kyuzo in SEVEN SAMURAI. Kiga Koyata (Yusuke Iseya, CASSHERN) is the mysterious thirteenth assassin who the others meet in the forest. He is the kind of rough and unpredictable character that Mifune would have played. But he might not be human.

The other samurai are the stalwarts of the genre. Mitsuhashi (Ikki Sawamura, STEAMBOY) is the scout. Otake (Seiji Rokkaku) is the heavy-set samurai that serves as comic relief. Hioki (Sosuke Takaoka, BATTLE ROYALE) is the devoted follower of Kuranaga. Higuchi (Yuma Ishigaki, AZUMI) and Horii (Koen Kondo, LINDA LINDA LINDA) are the explosives experts. Sahara (Arata Furuta, HANA) is the oldest samurai who prefers a spear to a sword. Ogura (Masataka Kubota) is the young samurai with little experience, but a lot of heart.

Leading the army set to protect Lord Naritsugu is Hanbei (Masachika Ichimura, FINAL FANTASY VII: ADVENT CHILDREN), a former school rival of Shinzaemon, who knows that no matter how many men they bring, if his old classmate is involved, there will be a great deal of bloodshed. He even goes to warn Shinzaemon that the effort is futile and that the time of the samurai is over. Shinzaemon is not persuaded. Lord Naritsugu is perverting the code of the samurai and he does not fear death in defending it.

The siege on the village at the end presents some implausible elements when it comes to the time the 13 samurai have to set their traps, but it's too fun to mind. By then you are too wrapped up in the story. Miike handles his bloody action with a visceral flare, but never loses his characters in the swordplay. For 40 minutes, we get to see how these warriors handle battle in choreography that we actually get to watch because Miike doesn't try to hide it with fancy camera work.

Naritsugu is the perfect villain to tell this story with. In a signature Miike moment, we meet one of his victims a naked, starved woman who has had her arms cut off. This is the aloof monster that we want Shinzaemon to take down. He represents the corrupt government that ruled following the nobler reign of the samurai. Shinzaemon knows that the time of the samurai has come to an end. What he can't stand is that the future is in the hands of men like Naritsugu. He knows he might not succeed, but he will show him what the samurai are all about. One of them will have a noble death for sure.


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Rick DeMott
Animation World Network
Creator of Rick's Flicks Picks