(2005, Japan)
Spirited sequel has lots of fighting, but less plot
The first AZUMI was something of an epic. An epic story, epic length, epic finale! It was flashily directed by Ryuhei Kitamura, who gained instant fame when he made the low-budget gangsters vs zombies VERSUS (2000). Since then, he's been a busy boy, directing horror (ALIVE), the latest Godzilla (FINAL WARS), the amazing-looking action-romance LOVEDEATH, and the forthcoming Clive Barker adaption MIDNIGHT MEAT TRAIN - Kitamura's first American film.
AZUMI (2003) set up the character of a young female assassin, trained by samurai to swing the outcome of civil war in 17th century Japan. Her brutal training, initial missions and increasingly monumental tasks may not have needed a three hour running time, but the swordfights, and very nasty bad guy, made it impressive and memorable.
So, my expectations were rather high for the sequel. You don't have to watch the first film to understand it, there are enough flashbacks to see you through. Aya Ueto returns to the role of Azumi and the movie starts at a running pace, with a clifftop swordfight against a horde of seemingly indestructible warriors.
But as the tale progresses a pattern emerged - an unending series of small-scale fights with gimmicky opponents, rather than with expert swordsmiths (like in the first film). In fact, in two of the film's pivotal fights, her opponents hadn't yet demonstrated their sword skills at all - why should we think they stood a chance? In the first film, her main opponent was repeatedly shown to be an expert swordsman, and therefore a very great threat.
The numerous fights are outlandish, even with a little magic (or impossibly advanced inventions) being used. More than a hint of HOUSE OF THE FLYING DAGGERS can be seen in the FX work for the 'web-spinning' opponent, which looked a shade too computer-generated.
But I wasn't excited by the fights, and noticed some speed-ups, not used for style, but because the action wasn't fast enough! The director, Shusuke Kaneko, has made many effects-heavy movies before, notably the awesome 1990's GAMERA trilogy, but his recent drama-heavy films, like the two DEATH NOTE movies were similarly humourless.
The only plus for me was a substantial supporting role for Chiaki Kuriyama, (KILL BILL, BATTLE ROYALE) playing a na�ve sidekick in Azumi's troupe of assassins - she's a good reason to watch, but she's not as iconic as her appearances usually are. They don't make the most of her character. But if it's blood you want - you got it!
So, non-stop action, not much story, a good-looking cast, lively fights and it's good to see Azumi in action again. But I wanted to be impressed, again.
While AZUMI has been released on DVD in the US, AZUMI 2: DEATH OR LOVE hasn't. DVDs have turned up in South Korea, Australia and the UK. I watched the region 2 PAL DVD from Optimum Asia, which also has a good, well-subtitled, documentary on it, with unpretentious interviews with the cast and crew.
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