The Lone Wolf and Cub series was co-produced by Shintaro Katsu--the same man who played the lovable Zatoichi in so many films. While there are clear similarities between the two series, the Lone Wolf and Cub series will not be mistaken for the Zatoichi films because they are clearly much more adult and more morally ambiguous. In the first Lone Wolf and Cub film, I was actually rather put off by this. The rapes, excessive violence and an unlikable main character made this tough viewing for me--especially when I would have been just as happy with yet another Zatoichi type film. Fortunately, while this second installment is still clearly an adult film, it has been toned down in some ways and was a lot more enjoyable to me. Now when I say 'toned down', I am referring to the main character. He is less an anti-hero and more decent in this film. In one scene it appears as if he's going to rape a woman but has no apparent intention to do this. Also the enemy are clearly bad and it was easy to root for Ogami Itto in his two major conflicts.
The film begins with the clan who is trying to destroy Ogami approaching a group of rather intense female ninjas for their help. In this initial scene, I was stoked--the women seemed nuts and practically were killing machines--a nice match-up for the film. Bizarrely, however, these insane killers turned out to be amazingly easy for Ogami to defeat--and as a result it seemed anti-climactic. Fortunately, another plot appeared involving three super-macho assassins and the secret that might destroy a clan. When the clan hires Ogami to kill the three and the man who is trying to betray his clan you can understand Ogami's need to kill them--and it sets up a great finale.
Be forewarned that although this movie has less nudity and is in some ways tamer than the first film, it clearly surpasses it in blood. I have never seen a Japanese film with more blood spraying in all my life--and this includes the super-bloody Zatoichi film made by Beat Takeshi a few years back! Oddly, some of the killing and gore was done by Ogami's tiny son in this installment!! As a result, you'd only be insane if you showed the film to kids--even if there are no rapes and the leading man is less of a jerk. No, this is an adult-oriented film--and an extremely bloody and entertaining one at that.
By the way, if you like to see mistakes, watch the bathtub scene. During this scene the water level goes up and down repeatedly--indicating it was pieced together (poorly) from several takes.
The film begins with the clan who is trying to destroy Ogami approaching a group of rather intense female ninjas for their help. In this initial scene, I was stoked--the women seemed nuts and practically were killing machines--a nice match-up for the film. Bizarrely, however, these insane killers turned out to be amazingly easy for Ogami to defeat--and as a result it seemed anti-climactic. Fortunately, another plot appeared involving three super-macho assassins and the secret that might destroy a clan. When the clan hires Ogami to kill the three and the man who is trying to betray his clan you can understand Ogami's need to kill them--and it sets up a great finale.
Be forewarned that although this movie has less nudity and is in some ways tamer than the first film, it clearly surpasses it in blood. I have never seen a Japanese film with more blood spraying in all my life--and this includes the super-bloody Zatoichi film made by Beat Takeshi a few years back! Oddly, some of the killing and gore was done by Ogami's tiny son in this installment!! As a result, you'd only be insane if you showed the film to kids--even if there are no rapes and the leading man is less of a jerk. No, this is an adult-oriented film--and an extremely bloody and entertaining one at that.
By the way, if you like to see mistakes, watch the bathtub scene. During this scene the water level goes up and down repeatedly--indicating it was pieced together (poorly) from several takes.