Synopsis:
 
 Born and bred an assassin, Yuki is a lethal beauty with a deadly sword. When her life is ripped from her in a horrific act of betrayal, she must run for her life from the ruthless killers she once considered family. As her former comrades close in, her only ally is Takashi, a member of a terrorist organization who has dedicated his life to the destruction of everything Yuki once stood for. Bloodshed reigns as Yuki tries to carve a delicate future out of her tumultuous past.

Review:

The movie starts out fast with an action scene of the assassin group known as the Takemikazuchi, assassins hired by the government to suppress rebels. Yuki is part of the assassin group & the last of the true Takemikazuchi bloodline, her mother & father the former leaders were killed when she was young. Soon after Byakurai(the leader) of the Takemikazuchi's tells them a member is trying to escape the Takemikazuchi & that once your in the Takemikazuchi you can't get out. They can't have members leaking out information & selling the Takemikazuchi out. Yuki says she will go alone & kill him before he escapes through the forest. After the job is done an old man out of nowhere starts attacking her & tells her that her mother was killed by Byakurai. Yuki doesn't believe him but once he throws her a necklace music box (kind of like in the anime Noir) she believes him, the necklace belonged to her mother. The old man tells Yuki that when she turns 20 tomorrow it’s her duty to take over the Takemikazuchi or flee the group. She then confronts Byakurai but he tries to deny it, she isn't fooled & can tell by his voice that he is lieing & a battle between the two breaks out. During the battle Byakurai tells her that her mother betrayed the Takemikazuchi & then says he has no choice but to kill her now (It should be noted that the battles between Byakurai & Yuki are the best in the movie). She is over powered by the powerful Byakurai & escapes. As she tries to escape through the forest from her former assassin comrades she happens to see a truck go by on a road & she jumps in and escapes. She quickly falls asleep. The truck goes to a house in the country, when she wakes up she is tried up in the house & a man around her age asks if she is trying to kill him but when he gets too close to her she attacks & gets free, telling him if she was to kill him he would be dead by now. The man’s name is Takashi who is part of a terrorist group. That’s enough of the setup as more would just spoil the movie. Will Yuki find out what happened to her mother & father & why they died? Who is that old man? Will she get revenge? Will she form a relationship with this new man in her life? Watch the movie & find out.

Acting & characters. The acting is good, especially Shiro Sano & Kyusaku Shimada. Both bad guys.  Shiro Sano plays Kidokoro, part of a terrorist group that another main character (Takashi) is involved in. A very calm, laid back guy. His always chewing gum & talking as if killing is just business.  Kyusaku Shimada plays Byakurai, the leader of the Takemikazuchi's. He is maybe my favorite character & actor in this movie; he is just so badass & plays a great bad guy. You really believe him in this role.  The main star of the movie is Yumiko Shaku who plays Yuki, I'm a little mixed on her acting. Sometimes it felt a little fake & forced but she fits this character perfect. She also stars in Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla which I will be reviewing next. Hideaki Ito plays Takashi, the love interest for Yuki (although it doesn't go far). He lives with his traumatized sister who he takes care of. He is part of the terrorist group that Kidokoro is involved with.

As for sound, I watched it in 5.1 Japanese & it sounded great. Music is pretty good, not techno or anything like that. The sound effects for the swords & such are fine. I just wish there was more of a kick in the sound when the swords clash but whatever. I sampled a scene English dubbed which is also 5.1 & it sounded fine, not recommended but as far as live-action dubs goes it didn’t seem that bad, they did a good job of mimicking the actors & the acting wasn't that bad. I just can't watch live-action movies dubbed but if you don't mind them then you shouldn't have a problem.

This movie feels pretty short & there really isn't much to it. The action is good but not amazing. Some battles are pretty cool while some are just decent. Maybe I expected more from the great Donnie Yen who was the action choreographer for this movie. The story is basic, simple & feels like you've seen before. The possible love story doesn't go very far at all, but that’s no big deal. When it’s all over you feel depressed at what happens (which I won't spoil). If you want to watch a decent movie about a good looking girl fighting with swords then it’s a decent watch.


Rating:

(This review/pictures made by Levon)