If there's one word being overused far too much in the movie business, it's the term "epic". Usually meant for sweeping period films, sword-and-sandal adventures, and anything bearing Peter Jackson's name on it, modern marketing for films have abused the word one too many times to describe them, especially when used for movies that clearly do not deserve them (Ben-Hur was an epic. Twilight is not).
But every now and then, the word has been used justifiably, not only for the grand visual and aesthetic panache, but the "classical" feel evoked as well, where the filmmakers not only aim to blow you away with a fantastic movie, but to keep the goosebumps firmly planted on your arms hours after leaving the theater.
Personally, a bona fide way to get "epic" to come out of my mouth is whenever you show me a good ol' fashioned Japanese samurai film. Show me any classic jidaigeki flick, and I'll eat it up. Especially if said film was made by the master of all such films, Akira Kurosawa, who helmed masterpieces ranging from Ran and Rashomon to Yojimbo and The Seven Samurai. I've always appreciated the common themes of honor, analysis of the nature of violence, and the importance of true heroism in such films, and I've hoped that most movies today could emulate or even duplicate such proficient filmmaking.
Lo and behold, my wish came true in the form of director Takashi Miike's 13 Assassins, a thunderous ass-kicker of a movie that easily earns its place as one of the best action films in recent memory.
It's mid-18th century Japan, and the changes within the feudal government have been causing the ways of the samurai to become obsolete. Even worse, Lord Naritsugu (Gorô Inagaki)-- brother to the current Shogun-- has been killing and raping at his own discretion, but his position of power keeps him free from prosecution.
Realizing that Naritsugu must be stopped, several government officials secretly hire legendary and respected samurai Shimada Shinzaemon (Kōji Yakusho) to assassinate the young tyrant. Agreeing to his task, Shinzaemon recruits eleven other samurai for the job, including lieutenant Kuranaga Saheita (Hiroki Matsukata), ronin Hirayama Kujūrō (Tsuyoshi Ihara), young rookie Ogura Shōujirō (Masataka Kubota), and Shinzaemon's own nephew Shimada Shinrokurō (Takayuki Yamada).
Joined later by sardonic bandit Kiga Koyata (Yūsuke Iseya), the assassins learn that Naritsugu and his entourage of 70 bodyguards are traveling from Edo. They plan to cut off and ambush Naritsugu by trapping him in a deserted town. But Shinzaemon will have his work cut out for him when he learns that his motley crew of thirteen won't be facing off against 70 of Naritsugu's men... they'll be facing 200 of them.
I honestly can't recall the last time I've ever walked out of a movie theater as pleasantly surprised as I was after seeing 13 Assassins. Now to be honest, I was bracing myself for the purely unconventional since I knew it was directed by controversial Japanese director Takashi Miike. His previous films Audition and especially Ichi the Killer were two of the most incredibly violent and disturbing movies I've ever seen, and therefore I was stoked to see his take on the venerable samurai genre.
And godDAMN, was it worth it. A remake of a 1963 film by Eiichi Kudo (which was reportedly based on a true story), 13 Assassins is a great example of how you can mix narrative and spectacle into one single entity of pure explosive genius: in this case, the two elements are almost completely separate.
During the first half of the picture, we're slowly but surely introduced to all the characters, developing the characters of Shinzaemon (terrifically played by Kōji Yakusho), Naritsugu, and Shimada, building up the exposition. With the exception of a few select scenes of action or bloody murder, the tone of the first hour is calm, atmospheric, and bears a subtle but obvious intensity.
But when the second half arrives and the assassins trap Naritsugu's army within an intriciate labyrinth of a town, 13 Assassins goes absolutely insane. The entire second hour is an entire, uninterrupted war scene between Shinzaemon and Naritsugu's forces, and the results are breathtaking. Flaming bison stampedes, giant blockade walls bursting out of nowhere, scores of bloodied bodies hitting the ground: the movie has it all, and it completely relentless. I was at the edge of my seat the entire time, and was praying that it wouldn't cease.
The editing, sound effects, and purposeful lack of a music score in these scenes are masterstrokes of their own right. I truly don't know why swordfighting scenes are so endlessly inventive and awesome by default, but 13 Assassins proves it right again. Essentially, this was the "few versus a million" kind of film epic that 300 failed to be.
Though it's nowhere near as fucked-up or controversial as Miike's past works, there's no doubt that 13 Assassins has earned its place as a modern classic, not only for its maturity, grace, skillful execution and nostalgic value, but also because... well... you know what, screw thoughtful analysis just this once. 13 Assassins will kick your ass. Go out and see for yourself if you wanna prove me wrong.
Letter Grade: "A"
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