A Sweeping Samurai Epic
Summary
Samurai Fury delivers on its title with an impressive and bloody final battle; it never loses its heart and doesn’t rely on being sentimental which makes the characters and their struggles feel authentic.
Plot: As famine and plague ravage 15th century Japan, the laconic shogun watches and does nothing to help his countrymen. Rebellious wanderer Hasuda Hyoe has seen enough and plots to depose the shogun and save Japan from self-imposed devastation. Starring Ôizumi Yô (I Am A Hero) as the heroic Hyoe, SAMURAI FURY pits this hero against his one-time friend Honekawa Doken, the iconic Shin’ichi Tsutsumi (Why Don’t You Play in Hell?) in an epic fight for survival.
Review: No one on Earth can shout quite the way the Japanese can, and Samurai Fury is one of the shoutiest films I’ve ever seen. Practically every line of dialogue is delivered while shouting… and I’m here for it. It’s called Samurai Fury for a reason and it’s certainly apparent in the second half of this epic; the final hour is practically one huge battle scene while never losing its heart.
I think Hasuda Hyoe (Ôizumi Yô) is one of my favourite movie characters of this year; he has such confident swagger and can clearly hold his own in a fight. He’s an immediately appealing protagonist and he lights up the screen while also remaining sympathetic.
Hyoe is a vagrant Ronin wandering Japan and along the way he picks up a young man who is skilled with a staff but doesn’t have the training to use it properly. He decides to take the boy and leave him with his master who then trains him for a year. After that he becomes the ultimate warrior and joins Hyoe in his quest for justice.
The first half of Samurai Fury is mostly setting up the story and characters while we get to know and care about their plights. We get a few awesome training montages and fight scenes to keep things moving, but like I said the finale is one massive battle scene.
The film looks gorgeous and feels influenced by Kurosawa while also using music that sounds like Ennio Morricone, and it all works in setting up the tone for this samurai epic.
The fractured friendship between Hyoe and Doken (Shin’ichi Tsutsumi) gives the story some emotional heft as despite being on opposite sides they still respect each other.
Overall, Samurai Fury is a sweeping epic that gives us memorable characters and a satisfying final battle that delivers on the movie’s title. It’s a little long and the pacing in the first half isn’t perfect but it’s worth the wait making this well worth checking out.