Having at least a couple of films by Takashi Miike, I can’t say that I’m a fan but this one has a decent Rotten Tomatoes rating and there are always moments such as now, given the high drama of politics in Malaysia, when we just don’t feel like watching anything too heavy. I thought that this fantasy samurai film, adapted from a successful manga, might at least be entertaining and pretty.
Manji is a samurai who is forced to flee with his sister after killing his own lord. After a band of mercenaries kills his sister, he slays them all but is grievously wounded. A mysterious 800-year-old nun appears and implants bloodworms into his body and gives him superhuman healing powers and immortality. Fifty years later, he still hasn’t aged a day and is approached by a young Rin for help. Rin’s father runs his own swordsmanship school but the entire school was wiped out in one night by a school, Ittō-ryū, who claims to want to unify all the schools. Manji is initially reluctant but intervenes when an Ittō-ryū member comes to add Rin to his collection. Naturally Rin also reminds him of his own sister. Manji and Rin therefore set off together to hunt the leader of the Ittō-ryū, Anotsu Kagehisa. However it soon becomes apparent that the Ittō-ryū has stirred so much trouble that there is a already a long line of enemies out to get them and just because they’re all out to get Anotsu Kagehisa doesn’t mean that they’re allies for Manji and Rin.
As this is just an action movie, I had low expectations for the plot but it managed to shock with the thin excuse of a story that it has. The characters are all cookie-cutter anime stereotypes without even the slightest attempt to flesh them out. Major story points are left entirely unexplained, such as exactly what the Ittō-ryū are trying to accomplish, the relationship between Anotsu Kagehisa and his strangely loyal underling Makie and why the ancient nun is implanting bloodworms in selected warriors. Like so many other stories about immortals, it makes a go about Manji and another warrior with the same condition longing for death but isn’t convincing at all as they fight pretty damn hard to stay alive and it seems to me that while the bloodworms are powerful they don’t seem to actually confer true immortality. I did like the scene when the other immortal Eiku Shizuma tricks Rin about how she can get the worms for herself she immediately goes for it like any rational person would. Accelerated healing and no aging? Yes, please!
There is a certain visual artistry to the film and the action choreography is decent enough. Combined with Miike’s penchant for gore and Manji’s Wolverine-like ability to shrug off even grievous wounds, the level of violence can be pretty shocking. Unfortunately the film has nothing approaching the visual spectacle of modern superhero films or even the better Chinese martial arts films. It’s amusing that the characters wield a succession of ever weirder and more outlandish weapons but in the end they’re still whacking each other with them without any real special effects. Even worse is the costumes and pretty faces make quite a few characters look like amateur cosplayers. In particular I hate the dumb trope of how the male characters are allowed to receive ugly wounds but a beautiful female character is completely unmarred until a single, non-visible wound kills her.
Anyway even with my low expectations, this film managed to surprise me with how mediocre and thoroughly stereotypical it is. There is no real reason to watch it at all and I regret having done so.