Synopsis:
Azumi - In war-torn Shogunate Japan, Azumi (Aya Ueto) is a beautiful young girl who has been trained from childhood with nine other orphans to become a fearless assassin. Martial arts master Gessai (Yoshio Harada) has raised the ten children in complete seclusion in the hope that his protégés will one day defeat the merciless warlords and restore peace to the land. To test that they are the ruthless killers they will need to be for the mission, Gessai orders them to pair off and fight to the death. Burdened with the cruel mission to kill friends and enemies alike, and sacrifice innocent lives Azumi begins to question her fate but Gessai leaves them neither room nor time for self-doubt as his trap ensnares them. Azumi and her remaining friends forge ahead, unaware of the terrible bloodshed that awaits them...
Azumi 2 - Picking up shortly after the events in the first film, Jpop sensation Aya Ueto continues her foray into the cinema fold in reprising her role as Azumi, the young ninja assassin charged with the burden of preventing her nation falling into civil war. However, rival Masayuki Sanada (Mikijiro Hira) is the government official determined to upset the delicate balance of national unity and steer Japan away from its destined course...
Set around the beginning of the Tokugawa Shogunate period of Japanese history (1603 - 1867), 'Azumi' is based on the Manga by Yuu Koyama. Accompanying leading light Aya Ueto, 'Battle Royale' favourites Ai Maeda and Chiaki Kiriyama star in the hack n' slash martial arts mayhem!
Review
Stunning, the characters are well thought out and show real emotions especially when they start loosing members of the team for various reasons. Theres the usual psychotic foe this time complete with pale face and white kimono claiming he only attacks and never defends while fighting (yeah right).
Best bit - Saru the ninja who looks and sounds like a monkey when he fights (Saru means monkey).
True there is one slow bit in the middle where Azumi decides to try changing her faet but this only lastes about 5-10minutes and then its right back into the action.
The action is some of the best choreographed scenes I have seen in a long time, the timing is brilliant. Especially the fight at the very end of Azumi where they have to cut there way through an entire town of theives and murderers.
As for Azumi 2 the action once again continues but this time at a lesser pace as she only has one more target. The fight scenes are still spectacular and we get to see a more human side to her character as she begins to question what she is doing.
Only weird bit for me is that they call themselves assasins, which is true for the first hit, but after that they just walk out into the open and start huge fights, which to me is more of a soldiers tactics not the stealthy way you would assume an assassin to deal with things.
8/10
Azumi - In war-torn Shogunate Japan, Azumi (Aya Ueto) is a beautiful young girl who has been trained from childhood with nine other orphans to become a fearless assassin. Martial arts master Gessai (Yoshio Harada) has raised the ten children in complete seclusion in the hope that his protégés will one day defeat the merciless warlords and restore peace to the land. To test that they are the ruthless killers they will need to be for the mission, Gessai orders them to pair off and fight to the death. Burdened with the cruel mission to kill friends and enemies alike, and sacrifice innocent lives Azumi begins to question her fate but Gessai leaves them neither room nor time for self-doubt as his trap ensnares them. Azumi and her remaining friends forge ahead, unaware of the terrible bloodshed that awaits them...
Azumi 2 - Picking up shortly after the events in the first film, Jpop sensation Aya Ueto continues her foray into the cinema fold in reprising her role as Azumi, the young ninja assassin charged with the burden of preventing her nation falling into civil war. However, rival Masayuki Sanada (Mikijiro Hira) is the government official determined to upset the delicate balance of national unity and steer Japan away from its destined course...
Set around the beginning of the Tokugawa Shogunate period of Japanese history (1603 - 1867), 'Azumi' is based on the Manga by Yuu Koyama. Accompanying leading light Aya Ueto, 'Battle Royale' favourites Ai Maeda and Chiaki Kiriyama star in the hack n' slash martial arts mayhem!
Review
Stunning, the characters are well thought out and show real emotions especially when they start loosing members of the team for various reasons. Theres the usual psychotic foe this time complete with pale face and white kimono claiming he only attacks and never defends while fighting (yeah right).
Best bit - Saru the ninja who looks and sounds like a monkey when he fights (Saru means monkey).
True there is one slow bit in the middle where Azumi decides to try changing her faet but this only lastes about 5-10minutes and then its right back into the action.
The action is some of the best choreographed scenes I have seen in a long time, the timing is brilliant. Especially the fight at the very end of Azumi where they have to cut there way through an entire town of theives and murderers.
As for Azumi 2 the action once again continues but this time at a lesser pace as she only has one more target. The fight scenes are still spectacular and we get to see a more human side to her character as she begins to question what she is doing.
Only weird bit for me is that they call themselves assasins, which is true for the first hit, but after that they just walk out into the open and start huge fights, which to me is more of a soldiers tactics not the stealthy way you would assume an assassin to deal with things.
8/10
