Based on Hiroaki Samura¡¯s long-running (1993-2012) manga, the samurai swashbuckler ¡°Blade of the Immortal¡± promises the sort of fun, over-the-top action that has long been a trademark of its director, Takashi Miike.
However, it labors to deliver, including during the 300-against-1 fight scene shown in the trailer. Those praying this film would be a return to form for Miike after the disaster of ¡°Terraformars¡± (2016) ¡ª an over-stuffed sci-fi epic that sank without a trace last year ¡ª will have to keep praying: ¡°Blade of the Immortal¡± is more of the dreary same, only this time the cast is in topknots instead of space suits.
Scripted by Tetsuya Oishi and produced by a consortium headed by Warner Bros. Pictures Japan, the film suffers from the elephantiasis endemic to big-budget manga adaptations. Fans want to see their favorite characters and stories, producers oblige, and the result is a two-hour-plus running time packed with self-indulgent bloat. Miike has added a few familiar signature touches, such as shots of gruesomely dissected victims on the wrong end of the hero¡¯s sword, but otherwise the film is hard to distinguish from other ¡°production consortium¡± product.
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