Disturbing yet enthralling

It is interesting even when nothing much happens, which is for most of its 3-hour running time. Read full review

This is a gorgeous movie made by a gorgeous spirit.

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

Very well written and emotionally disturbing film. The film depicts a Sadistic lord who is son to the Shogun; a tyrant, who uncontrollably murders without giving a second thought. People of the land have gotten fed-up with him and have organized a group of 13 assassins to overthrow the current ruler.The film was so captivating, it has to be one of the best films of this genre that depicts this era of Japan. Eerily realistic effects and gritty set designing makes this a must see if you are a fan of these type of movies.

The answer to the inevitable question of everyone who is considering watching this film for the first time is yes, 13 is too many assassins. Of course I am not referring to the strategic value of that number, but rather what it suggests about the approach to story and character in this film. I think of any chanbara film I have ever seen, this one has perhaps the least to offer in way of commentary or emotional resonance. It's a little confusing, because I can tell Miike is a good director, or at least has the capacity to be one. From a directional and visual standpoint this film isn't lacking by any stretch of the imagination. It's well executed. The problem is in what exactly is being executed. The story is simple to a fault. It's incredibly predictable how the series of events will play out to the point that you know by the ten minute mark what's bound to happen at the two hour mark. Here is where the issue of the excessive number of assassins is relevant. Going into this film, I knew that there wasn't going to be an opportunity to develop every character to the point of being fully realized. My suspicions were of course confirmed, but even more sobering was that there was hardly a single character I could really care about among this excessive cast. There's somehow no room in this two hour epic for a single character arc or decision not made in the first half an hour which makes any of the characters three dimensional. This is where an imbalance in the story and execution is really apparent. All the scenes are done well, but the story fails to make any of it mean anything. Simplicity in film plot is not an inherently bad thing. A story without real character or theme is however. 13 is too many assassins. There isn't room for characters amid the epic turmoil on screen. To reiterate, it's not bad. This film is perfectly functional, but nothing more. It is, unfortunately, an example of a chanbara period piece which fails to make a compelling commentary on the nature of society in feudal Japan or the conflict between bushido and the individual. The central conflict of ideas in this film sort of side steps these complicated ideas in favor of opposing ideologies which equally appeal to the altruistic nature of the classic samurai. I don't know why that is. It sort of raises the question of why this film was made to begin with. What's the point? The thematic nature of this film puts things at sort of a grade school level from a moral perspective. Again, it's confusing, because I have the suspicion that Miike doesn't really see the world in such juvenile terms. The technical skill coupled with the novice narrative is all together disappointing. It feels like there's a real lost opportunity in all this. This is objectively a good film in execution, but it's a story which isn't really worth telling.

While most modern action movies feel bloated and overlong, with unnecessary subplots sprouting on every scene, 13 Assassins has the opposite problem. An epic Jidaigeki homaging Kurosawa's Seven Samurai, the film follows veteran warrior Shinzaemon Shimada, entrusted with the task of eliminating a bloodthirsty powerful nobleman, untouchable by the law; Shimada assembles a team of fighters for the dangerous mission.Structure is simple. In the first act, 13 Assassins introduces the major players and displays the nobleman's atrocities (one moment in particular is truly disturbing, cementing the movie's R rating); in the second, Shimada and his men reach an isolated village to prepare the trap, while the nobleman's right-hand man Hanbei attempts to anticipate their moves. The last act is a bloody, pulse-pounding battle which, in spite of its length (over thirty minutes), maintains a great level of tension.While action is spectacular, characterization is lacking. Kôji Yakusho is excellent as Shimada, but only three or four of his men - including his nephew and a clownish bandit who is a clear homage to Seven Samurai's Kikuchiyo - get any kind of development; the rest are simply guys with swords. With deeper characterization, the last battle would have been even more powerful.7/10

I have found the film just OK. For my tastes it is really too old school. Directing/filming fights in this way, is for me prehistory. I do not like either films where all is special effects. But here all is just confused and flat. So many people fighting, no breaks, no special angles, direction is really straight and old school. There are moments that in my opinion are even ridiculous. I cannot understand how this film got to get 7,6 rating here and 96% in Rottentomatoes! That's just extremely exager-rated. Anyway, the acting is OK, and in the fights (which are concentrated in the last third of the movie) there are some good moments. But honestly I felt absolutely nothing watching this film. No tension, no emotion, no excitement, no epic feeling. And the characters gave me also absolutely nothing. The film is written and directed and shooted in a way that I felt just a distant observer of a flat scene.