Shogun Assassin

Shogun plays out like a video game. Take this character across the land to another location and fight bad guys along the way. As you progress further, the challenges get more difficult until you meet the "boss" and battle it out.

Shogun is an oddity, it is literally spliced together from two other films in a series, based on the Lone Wolf and Cub manga. Robert Houston acquired the rights to the films and edited this one together for American audiences. I have no idea why, but the result is a bloody tale that one would hope would encourage people to seek out the original series and watch them. I know I want to.

Shogun is bloody and the inspiration on Tarantino in his Kill Bill movies is undeniable. Tarantino isn't shy about this though as the Bride watches this film at the end of Vol. 2. The fight sequences are unique enough each time we encounter a new enemy that the film never feels stale.

I do wish that our lead would have more difficulty towards the end when he meets more masters in their own right. He never really seems to have trouble cutting people down. He has as much trouble fighting these masters as he does regular ninjas earlier in the film. It takes away from the suspense and the climax a little. The abrupt ending doesn't help either, there's no real time to let things sink in and settle. We get the end credits as soon as a fight is over. No time to digest things.

If you're looking for bloody sword play, appendages flying off the screen and a cute kid being pushed around in a cart...Shogun is for you.