overrated

Rating: 4/10 (29 October 2005)

I watched this movie a couple of days ago and, despite its credits given by critics, I must admit not liking it at all. The script is indeed potent, but the way it's materialized fails much behind the director's goals. First of all, this had to be a dramatic movie, while it's actually not. Drama is realized through superficial means and honestly convinces no one. It rather depends on costumes, declamations, stereotypic behavior and forces of nature to achieve something which had to be achieved through EXPRESSIVE ACTING alone. The story drags and the empty space is filled by artsy artifice. All characters are one dimensional and badly acted. Some may argue overacting is a respectable Japanese fashion, but I still don't like it, because it forbids someone to immerse into the plot. The only interesting (and realistic) character is Lady Kaede, also the only one enjoying a respectable performance.
The first battle scene is outright ridiculous. Blood has orange colors (!), dead heroes stack one against another in a "dramatic" mass of arrows and bullets. Everyone dies except, of course, our main character, bound to have a more dignifying fate and miraculously surviving masses of stray bullets. If the movie ended there, having the main character avoid capture by committing seppuku, or even fearing taking his own life and letting bullets do the work, I would have found the movie enjoyable. But the movie goes on much more into a totally contrived and predictable direction. The end was exactly as I had expected.