trashgang
This is still a real good example of Asian flicks so it's not for everybody but if you can understand their way of living than you really will enjoy this flick. It goes further were part one stopped and their are some flashbacks but overall the story is much better than the first one. But you will need a paper to wrote all the names down to understand who is who. Again they used CGI for some scene's to fill in the blood or the more gorier (funny) parts that reminded me of one of the traps of Cube. But when the red stuff flows it sputters like they use to do in Asian flicks. It clocks in at almost 2 hours but still you keep attracted to the screen. Nowadays it's easy to find the DVD and it's so cheap that you have to pick it up.
Angelus2
Starting off were the first part ended, Azumi has one last target, a target who possesses an army of ninja's, armoured from head to toe, possessing skills to match our very own Azumi.I did not enjoy the first part, very much...I felt the fight scenes were all over the place, while the story-line was sketchy at best and the wrong actors were selected...But in this second instalment's, the production team and cast have found their place.From the first second, the action begins and it does not waver as we follow Azumi through a beautiful forest, with ninja's hot on her tail, but what I found quite satisfying with this second part, was Aya Ueto's improved acting skills...and fighting skills...She is Azumi!The side stories, were just as entertaining. But the honest truth is that this is a hack/slash movie and just like the first, the slicing and dicing comes in bunches..Fantastic.
Shawn Watson
Despite the success of Azumi the makers appear to have cut back on the budget for this sequel and as a result we get much less in the way of innovative action and a LOT more of wandering around in the forest.The story picks up not long after the first with Azumi and Nagara still going after the warlords intent on seizing Japan. She soon meets a rowdy young rebel called Ginkaku who looks a lot like her dead boyfriend Nachi (a weird plot that goes absolutely nowhere) and joins forces with them to fight evil.Some nice fight scenes follow but they use waaaay too much CGI blood effects (a horrible trend that is becoming more and more popular) and none of them have the eccentric flair of the original movie. The ending doesn't amount to much either but I'd still watch a third if they were to make it.
sendoh15
I'm a huge fan of the first one and as much as i hate agreeing with some of the comments, well I do. This isn't even close to the first, simply because kitamura's touch was missing badly. The unique sense of camera angles, sword fights, wire work etc... There's still plenty of violence and blood but not quite as impressive and breathtaking as the first. I hoped for kitamura's direction as it really would have been more intense than the first but not everything goes our way. Still the acting was good and the scene with a copy of the ninja scroll sword boomerang was pretty cool I must say.Nevertheless I still love this simply because I love the franchise of this type of samurai flick and once again the cute aya ueto's presence once more. Recommended to all action and samurai fans out there. 10/10 simply because it's still a great movie with ueto in it...
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