Synopsis:
Kenshin Himura goes up against pure evil Makoto Shishio who is attempting to overthrow the Meiji government. The fate of the country hangs in the balance as Kenshin Himura takes up the sword that he vowed to never draw again.
The movie follows the events of the first film where we see the titular character and his group finally settled at peace at their dojo and this is where we see them training their ways of the swords but by the looks of it, it's not for war sake rather it is for art. That said, I loved the introduction of the story in this film because we get to see how this group is holding up after what happened in the first film, and they showed it pretty well because we saw how each of these characters coped with the events in the last film and it showed how well they evolved from nobodies to become some sort of family. That wasn't my favorite part of the first act though, that trophy belongs to how they introduced the film's villain which is Makoto Shishio, I was such a fan of his introduction because it was shady (even though you get to know him more as the movie progresses) and he looks like this badass in the shadows.
My qualms with the story though is the second act of it, it felt tonally different from the first and third act and admittedly the way this act progressed was a little bit dull and monotone, thankfully though we had the amazing action scenes that helped that aspect. Speaking of action scenes, if I were to compare the action between this film and its predecessor, I have to say that the action in this film was definitely an improvement, it was well choreographed and well shot and that you can't help but be excited whenever their is action on the screen, it's just so exciting and blood-pumping to look at. It surely is the highlight of the film for me.
Returning as Kenshin Himura is Takeru Sato and much like in the first one, he embodies the role of Kenshin very good because he can be serious when needed be and when I say serious I mean dead serious like this guy could kill you with his stare. What I also liked in his performance is how he showed the humor of the character, it was done in a simple and deadpan way that actually fits the character and make it not look too overdone. Next is Sato's leading lady Kaoru which was reprised by Emi Takei, firstly I'd like to say that this woman looks lovely, secondly I thought that she was great in the movie because she displays her innocence in the movie quite well yet she was still able to show that she is not just that but also a kick-ass character that definitely fits will with Kenshin's character. Plus, their chemistry was just so good. Another character in our hero sides are Sanosuke and Saito which was respectfully played by Monuteka Aoki and Yosuke Eguchi, I loved both these characters in the film because they work pretty well with Kenshin and they are not just throwaway characters as they were displayed and developed well throughout the movie. To round off the hero side, I'd like to say that most of them did a good job with the material they were given and that I found no bad performances from them.
Now that we're done with the heroes, let's now focus on the villains. The main villain Shishio was portrayed by Tatsuya Fujiwara, I'm a big fan of this guy because he's able to show immense emotions just through his dialogue and in this film, he did just that. His face is barely visible throughout the whole movie but you will understand where he is going and you will truly get the motive of this character. Fujiwara stole the movie for me and I can't wait to see more of his character in the third installment. There were other villains in the film but they were most likely just henchmen in this film (although I do hope to see more of them in the next film) nevertheless though, there were still two antagonist characters which did have some characterization and those characters were Sojiro (Ryunosuke Kamiki) and Cho (Ryosuke Miura). I hated both of these characters but in a good way, they were very effective side villains and really proves to be a worthy adversary for Kenshin., in addition to that, the performances of both those characters really helped with how their characters were shown.Like I said earlier, the action was the highlight of the film because it was well choreographed and well shot but none of those beautiful shots would have been shown without its cinematographer which was Takuro Ishikaza, I'm fairly new to this guy's work but I can already say that I am a big fan of his because his work here is just top-notch. It was violently beautiful and he did such a great job at capturing the feel of the era of the film. There was also a lot of great imagery in the film which really stood out and pop-out of the screen. I as not a fan of the score though because it dives into generic rock music which kinda bugs me a bit but this complaint though is more of a nitpick.
Lastly let's talk about the direction in the film, same as the first one, it was directed by Keishi Ohtomo. Let me talk about how he approached all three acts of the film, the first act was the best of act of the film for me because he was able to clearly introduce new characters in a great way and also reintroducing the characters that we have known from the first film. The second act I was not a huge fan of because it kinda felt like a filler act and it was a bit dull and dragging. The third act though definitely picked up its pace and it was a great set-up for the next film and Ohtomo was able to capture the audience's anticipation for the next film. Big props to him too for the way he handled the humor in the film because it was cheesy and it actually served as a needed break from the seriousness of the film. It was done in a simple and subtle way.
Overall:
While I thought that the first film is better than this one, this film is still able to stand its own ground with great performances from the cast and near-perfect action scenes, that is enough to take the audiences at the edge of their seat and quench the thirst of Rurouni Kenshin fans for a great adaptation. Here's hoping that the next film would be as good if not better than this film.
Grade:
There was a lot of great dialogue in the film, too bad I wasn't able to remember any.
P.S.
Rurouni Kenshin: The Legend Ends will be released on Sept. 24, 2014
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