I liked Basilisk for the action, mainly, it's a pretty classic set-up in terms of what the story is "based" on (the writer of the original book is a famous author of Ninja stories), and I think a lot of the appeal is supposed to come from knowing they're all going to kill each other and seeing how it happens. I guess it wouldn't have been hard to see the end coming in one form or another, but if you told me you guessed it absolutely to the letter and could see no deviation at all from it I don't think I'd believe you. Also, I thought the part you mentioned in spoilers was a pretty nice way to take the narrative.