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"No one can throw away his past"
A heads up for anyone who reads this review, I’ve not read the manga nor watched the anime. I can only review what I saw on the screen with nothing to fill in the story and character gaps that people familiar with the source material would be able to do.
Kenshin is hanging out at Kaoru’s dojo committed to his pacifist life. Unfortunately, two blasts from his past with grudges against him and the country want him to come out of retirement. A bandaged baddie named Shishio, with his own army, is ready to turn the country upside down for betraying him. A mysterious stranger is also hunting down Kenshin for reasons hitherto unknown. The government talks Kenshin into facing off with Shishio and given Shishio’s condition, it could mean literally. During his journey, Kenshin is befriended by a group of ninjas. His friends, Kaoru and hot-headed Sanosuke, are not far behind him and determined to help when Kyoto is threatened with an inferno.
Kenshin’s reverse blade is a bit of stretch, given that he was usually fighting gangs of murderous killers. If Batman could do it, then so could Himura Kenshin. Satoh Takeru often missed some of his targets by a mile, but he sold the action as did the stuntmen. The sword fights may have been completely unrealistic but they were well choreographed and entertaining. Where I did have a problem was with Kaoru in this film. At a particularly dangerous moment she showed up yelling at Kenshin to not kill a psychotic killer he was fighting. I really wanted him to say, “Woman, I am getting my butt handed to me and all I have is this broken-ass sword. Every time I knock him down, he bounces back up. I’m trying to not only stay alive but also keep a baby from being cleaved in half. So cut me some slack!” She also told the ninjas who were fighting an army and badly outnumbered to not kill anyone. To go against their training and worry about that would have gotten them killed. I love a badass female fighter and am always happy to see one in martial arts movies, Kaoru just wasn’t written very well. She was also not very convincing or commanding with her bamboo pole, given that she was supposed to be an instructor. Her presence was a liability during the battle and of course she ended up as the damsel in distress.
There were numerous characters to keep track of, both old and new, some more captivating than others. There were characters who played it straight and others who chewed through every piece of scenery in their path. Satoh Takeru is always compelling to watch as the handsome samurai who has taken a vow not to kill and uses a sword with the business end aimed at himself. This middle child film just felt uneven and bloated. I’m looking forward to seeing how they resolve some of those issues in the third installment.
8 March 2025
Warning: Ends on a cliffhanger
Kenshin is hanging out at Kaoru’s dojo committed to his pacifist life. Unfortunately, two blasts from his past with grudges against him and the country want him to come out of retirement. A bandaged baddie named Shishio, with his own army, is ready to turn the country upside down for betraying him. A mysterious stranger is also hunting down Kenshin for reasons hitherto unknown. The government talks Kenshin into facing off with Shishio and given Shishio’s condition, it could mean literally. During his journey, Kenshin is befriended by a group of ninjas. His friends, Kaoru and hot-headed Sanosuke, are not far behind him and determined to help when Kyoto is threatened with an inferno.
Kenshin’s reverse blade is a bit of stretch, given that he was usually fighting gangs of murderous killers. If Batman could do it, then so could Himura Kenshin. Satoh Takeru often missed some of his targets by a mile, but he sold the action as did the stuntmen. The sword fights may have been completely unrealistic but they were well choreographed and entertaining. Where I did have a problem was with Kaoru in this film. At a particularly dangerous moment she showed up yelling at Kenshin to not kill a psychotic killer he was fighting. I really wanted him to say, “Woman, I am getting my butt handed to me and all I have is this broken-ass sword. Every time I knock him down, he bounces back up. I’m trying to not only stay alive but also keep a baby from being cleaved in half. So cut me some slack!” She also told the ninjas who were fighting an army and badly outnumbered to not kill anyone. To go against their training and worry about that would have gotten them killed. I love a badass female fighter and am always happy to see one in martial arts movies, Kaoru just wasn’t written very well. She was also not very convincing or commanding with her bamboo pole, given that she was supposed to be an instructor. Her presence was a liability during the battle and of course she ended up as the damsel in distress.
There were numerous characters to keep track of, both old and new, some more captivating than others. There were characters who played it straight and others who chewed through every piece of scenery in their path. Satoh Takeru is always compelling to watch as the handsome samurai who has taken a vow not to kill and uses a sword with the business end aimed at himself. This middle child film just felt uneven and bloated. I’m looking forward to seeing how they resolve some of those issues in the third installment.
8 March 2025
Warning: Ends on a cliffhanger
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