As one of the other reviews mentioned, you should really start with the original "Yojimbo" to fully appreciate the Mifune character here. However, this was my first Zatoichi story, and I enjoyed it immensely.
The two characters have a great repertoire, an uneasy adversarial partnership, further complicated by the appearance of a third mystery agent, and the various dealings of Mifune and his boss.
This particular storyline allows Mifune especially some time to explore the farther corners of his Yojimbo/Sanjuro character. We see some comedy, and even some romance... though Sanjuro might be loathe to admit it. The ending even makes sense, in a strange way, providing a possible closure on the character's fate.
Ichi and Sanjuro are funny together, and their chemistry is really entertaining. Katsu Shintaro sketches Zatoichi as both a master swordsman, and a bit of a klutz. He treads a fine comedic line between having fun at Ichi's expense, and portraying Ichi as a cleverly self-deprecating tactician.
Finally, the Chambara Entertainment version (released recently) had an excellent transfer, was widescreen, and came with a very informative little insert, explaining some of the more esoteric terms and puns. The subtitling was superb as well, using different colors to denote who was talking.
I highly reccomend this movie for fans of chambara, and especially for fans of Mifune and Shintaro! Mind you, it's not Kurosawa, but it's decently-made, and the actors are very entertaining.
The two characters have a great repertoire, an uneasy adversarial partnership, further complicated by the appearance of a third mystery agent, and the various dealings of Mifune and his boss.
This particular storyline allows Mifune especially some time to explore the farther corners of his Yojimbo/Sanjuro character. We see some comedy, and even some romance... though Sanjuro might be loathe to admit it. The ending even makes sense, in a strange way, providing a possible closure on the character's fate.
Ichi and Sanjuro are funny together, and their chemistry is really entertaining. Katsu Shintaro sketches Zatoichi as both a master swordsman, and a bit of a klutz. He treads a fine comedic line between having fun at Ichi's expense, and portraying Ichi as a cleverly self-deprecating tactician.
Finally, the Chambara Entertainment version (released recently) had an excellent transfer, was widescreen, and came with a very informative little insert, explaining some of the more esoteric terms and puns. The subtitling was superb as well, using different colors to denote who was talking.
I highly reccomend this movie for fans of chambara, and especially for fans of Mifune and Shintaro! Mind you, it's not Kurosawa, but it's decently-made, and the actors are very entertaining.
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