6/10
Exaggerated Violence
13 July 2009
Warning: Spoilers
Recap: Lone Wolf is a samurai bound by honor to his master. But when said master, the shogun begins to fear him and tries to have him assassinated, those bonds are broken. What is worse, the assassins only manage to kill his wife, leaving Lone Wolf and his young son on a mission for vengeance.

Comments: This has a very different style. It is very exaggerated in every way, and I would almost describe it as cartoonish (not surprising considering its source). Everything is either ascetically minimal or over the top exaggerated. Lone Wolf on one hand says almost nothing, but his swordplay is all over the top. Bodies, blood and gore literally flies in every direction. Effects and sound are equally exaggerated to emphasize the action. So it is clearly different from many other movies. If this is in part because its Japan, whose movies often exaggerate to emphasize, dialog for instance, I can't say.

If you can accept the style, it is a entertaining action movie. And mark my word, it is pure action. There is very little dialog, and what is said is almost all a narration by Lone Wolf's son. This makes the movie rather one dimensional, but it is not a big problem as it don't seem to aspire to be more. It will never be confused with a masterpiece, but still a entertaining movie that has had a rather big impact.

6/10
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