SAMURAI
MARATHON (Blu-ray Review)
Starring
Takeru Satoh, Nana Komatsu, Mirai Moriyama, Shota Sometani, Munetaka
Aoki, Hiroki Hasegawa, Ryu Kohata, Yuta Koseki, Danny Huston.
Directed by Bernard Rose. (2019/106 min)
FROM
WELL GO USA
Review
by Tiger the Terrible😸
In
the 1850s, the American Navy introduces guns to previously-isolated
Japan, which concerns slightly-unhinged Lord Itaskura (Hiroki
Hasegawa). Fearing a newly-armed shogun invasion, Itsakura orders his
samurai to assemble. One of his men, an accountant named Jinnai
(Takeru Satoh), is actually a shogun spy and sends a letter warning
them. However, it turns out that Itaskura is simply making his
samurai participate in a 36 mile endurance race because he feels 200
years of peace has rendered them soft.
Jinnai
tries to retrieve his letter, but it's too late...shogun fighters are
on their way, one who's armed with a gun. Meanwhile, other race
participants include Itsakura's daughter, Yuki (Nana Komatsu),
disguising herself as a man to avoid marrying perpetually angry
Tsujimura (Mirai Moriyama), who's vowed to find her (beheading a few
poor saps along the way). A few other characters are featured as the
race commences, but they're less essential to the plot. And with the
exception of Jinnai, none of them are anticipating any genuine
conflict.
When the ice cream man drives through your neighborhood at 35 m.p.h. |
Of
course there's gonna be conflict. Who the hell wants to watch a hundred guys running through the forest for two hours, especially
with all those swords handy? Samurai Marathon is supposedly
based on a real life event which inspired a foot race that's still
held in Japan every year. But since the movie isn't a history lesson,
let's not concern ourselves with accuracy. What ultimately matters is
the story, characters and, above all, the action, all of which the
film handles quite well. The narrative is a bit jumpy at first,
juggling too many plot threads. However, once it sharpens its focus
to the race and impending shogun threat, it becomes quite engaging,
especially the close-quarters action sequences, which are exciting
and sometimes bloody.
Well-drawn
characters help cement Samurai Marathon in the win column, a
few who undergo interesting changes as the story progresses. Even
some of the peripheral characters are more fleshed-out more than
those you usually find in similar action films. The film concludes
with a title card stating the samurai marathon has-since become
annual event, which might be as historically accurate as it gets. But
fact or fiction, the whole thing's pretty enjoyable.
KITTY CONSENSUS:
PURR-R-R...LIKE A GOOD SCRATCH BEHIND THE EARS.
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