It took me a while to finally watch this film after my friend lent it to me ages ago. While I have been watching tons of Asian films since I am a huge fan of them, I decided to give this one a try on a Friday night.
And I am so glad I took the time to watch this. It is a stunningly beautiful film with some fantastic scenery and cinematography. But that is not the only good thing about it - the story, despite some predictability and cliché (what is truly original nowadays anyway) is quite interesting. It's about warriors called Shinobi who have managed to reach a state of peace in ancient Japan. After some consideration by the Lord of Lords, they decide to lift a ban on the war between two opposing villages - both must fight to the death to claim victory. The only problem is that the two leaders who have been chosen to lead their parties to victory just happen to be romantically involved.
So you have your Romeo and Juliet sort of story but what surprised me is that the film has a lot of fantasy elements - these warriors all have certain superpowers that not only make them strong but also vulnerable in terms of their desires and utility in life. It is sort of like Xmen in some ways as this film also touches upon the drawbacks on having certain gifts.
The two main leads really do a great job in their roles. Yukie Nakama as Oboro, the team leader of the Iga clan is stunningly beautiful and combines sensitivity and wisdom into her role. Jô Odagiri, the other team leader of the opposing clan is great in his role to and both have pretty good chemistry on screen - though it is a shame that the beginning is where they spend the most time together and it's not for long though.
The settings in this film are just beautiful, music score is pretty nice too and the action scenes are pretty entertaining, though some of the CGI gets a bit too much, though they didn't overblow it. The film really dwelves into the reasons for why we fight with other people and why some are for it, and others will try to resist it when it comes to human life.
The film manages to be emotional yet not overly sentimental which is a good balance to achieve. At the heart of the film is a love story and if you're not into romance, well it's a shame because you have to have characters you care about to make a really great film.
I'll just end this review by simply saying - go check it out. It may not be everyone's liking (and come on, a film isn't going to satisfy every person) but this did the trick for me. Recommended.
And I am so glad I took the time to watch this. It is a stunningly beautiful film with some fantastic scenery and cinematography. But that is not the only good thing about it - the story, despite some predictability and cliché (what is truly original nowadays anyway) is quite interesting. It's about warriors called Shinobi who have managed to reach a state of peace in ancient Japan. After some consideration by the Lord of Lords, they decide to lift a ban on the war between two opposing villages - both must fight to the death to claim victory. The only problem is that the two leaders who have been chosen to lead their parties to victory just happen to be romantically involved.
So you have your Romeo and Juliet sort of story but what surprised me is that the film has a lot of fantasy elements - these warriors all have certain superpowers that not only make them strong but also vulnerable in terms of their desires and utility in life. It is sort of like Xmen in some ways as this film also touches upon the drawbacks on having certain gifts.
The two main leads really do a great job in their roles. Yukie Nakama as Oboro, the team leader of the Iga clan is stunningly beautiful and combines sensitivity and wisdom into her role. Jô Odagiri, the other team leader of the opposing clan is great in his role to and both have pretty good chemistry on screen - though it is a shame that the beginning is where they spend the most time together and it's not for long though.
The settings in this film are just beautiful, music score is pretty nice too and the action scenes are pretty entertaining, though some of the CGI gets a bit too much, though they didn't overblow it. The film really dwelves into the reasons for why we fight with other people and why some are for it, and others will try to resist it when it comes to human life.
The film manages to be emotional yet not overly sentimental which is a good balance to achieve. At the heart of the film is a love story and if you're not into romance, well it's a shame because you have to have characters you care about to make a really great film.
I'll just end this review by simply saying - go check it out. It may not be everyone's liking (and come on, a film isn't going to satisfy every person) but this did the trick for me. Recommended.