Review of Shogun Assassin (1980) by Joshua B — 10 Sep 2009

Shogun Assassin jumps back and forth between beautifully shot scenes and a touching father/son relationship and hilariously campy 80s nostalgia. It's a disjointed, plotless narrative mess -- probably the result of what is essentially a remix of the first two Lone Wolf & Cub films rather than its own movie -- but it's a pretty fun gorefest. The fight scenes are gleefully stylized violence where a superhuman samurai takes on legions of ninjas and drops a body count out of a Rambo film. Both the English dubbing and the 80s synth score are truly horrendous, but in that respect they add to the overall fun. There are some fantastic one-liners ("they shall pay...with rivers of blood!") that make it into the English translation, especially from the Masters Of Death during the film's climax (which I won't ruin for those who haven't seen it).

Kurosawa this ain't. And that's not necessarily a bad thing.