Tweekums Azumi is the only girl in a group of ten orphans who have been trained as assassins in a remote area of Japan. They have been prepared for a mission to kill various warlords and when they are told that his mission is about to start they are overjoyed… then they learn there is a final test; each is told to pair up with their closest friend before being ordered to fight to the death! Those who survive, which obviously includes the eponymous Azumi, set off on their mission. The mission is everything; they are ordered not to get involved when a village is massacred as the attackers aren't their targets. Once they start killing their targets the others warlords hire their own killers to hunt down the assassins. By now some of those assassins are starting to question their mission and get involved with other people.If you are looking for realism this will probably disappoint you but if you want lots of full-on, over-the-top samurai action then this should be just the ticket. The action is stylish in a way that seems to introduce elements of Chinese Wuxia films to traditional Japanese samurai action. The fights are numerous, exciting and pretty bloody. Seventeen year old Aya Ueto does a fine job as Azumi; she makes a great protagonist as she dispatches goodness knows how many villains while still looking cute! The rest of the cast are decent too. Among these the most memorable is Joe Odagiri, plays Bijomaru; a camp but highly proficient swordsman who has been employed to kill the assassins. While the action is mostly exciting there are some shocking, somewhat disturbing, moments. Overall I'd recommend this to anybody wanting over-the-top samurai action without requiring anything too deep.These comments are based on watching the film in Japanese with English subtitles.

gercs A story about feudalism in Japan is something that I find interesting. The era, when the shogun reigned, when feudal wars sparked here and there, was full of chaos and bloodshed. "Chaos" and "bloodshed" are common catchphrases, but what draws me to these stories is that this era in Japan is something mysterious for me. Perhaps, it is the effect of the country being not too open during that period, and the main question is: What happened in Japan's deep countryside when the shoguns reigned? Although the Western world has their own share of wars, the wars in Japan were arguably more bloody and violent. When depicted in film, it becomes a piece of entertainment in many dimensions. As we all know, what usually makes these films good is a profound story about trust and betrayal, coupled with the showcase of sword-fighting skills and war strategies. The inner conflict and the clash of philosophies are more interesting than the physical depiction of the war itself.The premise of "Azumi" is rather compelling because it is about young assassins. They were children used by the Tokugawa shogunate - deployed as assassins in their teenage years - to assassinate feudal lords who were capable of initiating another large-scale conflict. I was curious on their character development and the possible inner conflict that may arise when they face the world. The film did tackle these things, but the result was rather disappointing. Although there were some profound scenes, it did not delve into these things deeper, and generally, the portrayal was rather uneven and touched only the surface. It went more to the typical action movie side, and went further even beyond believability in the combat skills and endurance of its characters. As the film progresses, I'm becoming convinced that I am just watching an action fantasy flick despite its compelling historical references. If you are looking for an action movie and you don't really care about the story that much, then you may find this film thrilling; although you might be disappointed if you are looking for realistic fight scenes. In fact, it's the thrill and mystery together with some intriguing characters that enabled me to finish watching this film.

Vincent Teenagers as assassins, this is a Ninja style film with the teens and key bad guys all able to do impossible feats.Some of the acting is awful, the villains are very hammy, and some is adequate but none is good.The plot is unoriginal and sometimes silly.Without decent acting the fight sequences needed to be good and they aren't, if you don't go for gritty and realistic you really need to go for spectacular and visually exciting but all we get here is dull and unconvincing. Aya is especially unconvincing in the fight sequences, she looks uncertain and unrehearsed.The assassination at the very end completely abandons any pretence of realism or intelligence.This might appeal to twelve year olds but there is nothing here for adults

Angelus2 Azumi is trained to become an assassin, however, as she begin to question her path in life, her enemies are not far behind.I have had friends rave about this samurai film, and according to one particular friend, it was the movie that immortalised the long forgotten 'Samurai' genre, but I found this film to be quite disappointing.The plot was very minimal, with no real character development and the script itself was very weak, the actors chosen to play their respected roles, simply did not do the trick; Aya Ueto, is awful as the warrior without fear, I liked her better in 'Attention Please!'..Now, if the plot, characters, script is terrible, surely the action will make up for it...No...The action is simply awful, I liked the occasional one slice kill, but it just seems to be rushed and all a big catastrophe.