My Summer With Zatoichi: The Tale of Zatoichi (01)

Around the holiday season of last year, the renowned Criterion Collection released the Zatoichi: The Blind Swordsman 25 film box set as their big release for the year. If you are anything like me, then you probably have no idea who or what Zatoichi is and why it has 25 movies dedicated to it. To give you a quick summary, which the title gives away, Zatoichi is a blind masseur who is also one of the most skilled swordsman in the world. All 25 films follow the character in feudal Japan, the time of samurai and swords. What makes this character and these films special is that out of the 27 films made starring Zatoichi, he's been played by the same actor Shintaro Katsu in 25 of them, all of which are featured in this box set.

I got this box set at Christmas last year and as of late have only seen eight of he films. My goal is to watch all of the films by the end of the Summer! I'll update this series as often as I can, but I will make sure to finish this summer assignment.

To begin with, let's talk about the first film in the series, the one that started it all. This is my review of...

PLOT
During his travels, Zatoichi ends up in a small village who's local Yakuza (Mafia) gang is on the verge of war with a rival clan. He is hired by this village's Yakuza to fight for them, but tensions rise when Zatoichi unknowingly befriends the Samurai from the rival clan.


   The Tale Of Zatoichi is a very quiet film with very few action scenes. The film is more focused on the characters and the melodramatic plot lines, which I was not expecting the first time I saw the movie. In fact, what action scenes there are, they are very unimpressive with the tension coming from the situations surrounding the action rather then the action itself. Don't take this as a bad thing though, because this film's strength lies in character and slow beauty.

   What truly carries this film is Zatoichi himself. He's not your usual suave, skilled action hero; Zatoichi is clumsy, humble, and unassuming. When he first meet him, he's slowly walking along the countryside, having to take cautious and large steps. This unassuming nature makes Zatoichi all the more interesting when he see how much charisma and skill with a sword he has. This was Shintaro Katsu's first time playing the character, but already he owns it. What emotion he can't get across in his eyes (which are closed 90% of the time), he easily gets across in his face and dialogue. Katsu, and Zatoichi in turn, is just charming and instantly likeable. We like this character just 10 minutes into the film when he tricks a bunch a gamblers out of their money in a clever and funny way. Even when the situations get dire, Zatoichi knows when to make the audience smile. He's a somewhat tragic character, being a swordsman who doesn't want to kill but must in order to survive as a mercenary. The only reason he even began to train with the sword was to show smug and disrespectful people that he was more then just a sad blind man. Ichi is easy sympathize with, even when the audience knows that his blindness does little to hinder him.

   Beyond Zatoichi, the movie itself has a quiet beauty to it. Many Japanese films of this era have a similar feel, and the cinematography is only exemplified by the Blu-ray (and even DVD) transfer. While a large portion of the film takes place indoors, we still get many shots of the outside and nature itself. There's also very little use of music in the movie, with most of the soundtrack comprising of the background noise of the world. People meandering, birds chirping, life itself is the music of this film. While there is music, it only comes in to further drive to point home of many dramatic and important scenes.

  As a whole, the film is essentially a Japanese soap opera. There are many cliches, a lot of overacting, and few surprises. Many plot lines you can figure out how they end the second they begin. The only other stories I became interested in all involved the enemy village's samurai and his friendship with Ichi. The samurai is named Hirate (played by Shigeru Amachi) and he's just as sympathetic as Ichi. They also do seem like actual friends, and when that friendship is tested it does hurt a bit and gets you invested. Without this aspect, the movie would be much slower and less fun.

While a but dated and slow, The Tale of Zatoichi is a good if not great film that easily shows why this character became so popular. Shintaro Katsu is owns this role and keeps the movie entertaining throughout. The cinematography and quiet mood give the film a sense of beauty that just isn't seen today. Overall, The Tale of Zatocihi is a small, quiet, but interesting film that will make anyone excited to see the rest of series.

RATING
WALK TO

 If you would like to read my latest review, click here:http://newandclassicreviews.blogspot.com/2014/06/22-jump-street-nr-60.html
 If you want to read the next part in this series, click here: (Next Part Coming Soon!)

22 Jump Street: NR #60

AND I'M BACK YA'LL!!!!!!!!

Yes, I've finally returned. After six months, I'm happy to be back. For those of you who don't know why I took so long in my return, you can read this post I made about a week ago:http://newandclassicreviews.blogspot.com/2014/06/hey-there.

Let's not hold off any longer. This week, I'm reviewing a sequel to one of the most surprisingly great movies of the last few years, a movie I went into with mixed feelings: I love the original, but the sequel seemed unnecessary. Did it turn out as well as its predacessor? Let's find out in my review of...

  PLOT
 22 Jump Street follows Jenko and Schmidt after their success with the Jump Street project as cops, and they're still terrible at being cops. Because of this, both men are put back into the Jump Street program with a new case that is exactly the same as last time, except this time they're going to college! Schmidt and Jenko must now infiltrate the college, find the drug dealer, and arrest him/her.



Now, I'm going to try something a little different. I'm going to try and write in paragraphs instead of "PROS" and "CONS". We'll see how it goes.


  As I said before, I went into 22 Jump Street a little anxious. I love the first film, but this one just seemed forced. Luckily, directors Chris Miller and Phil Lord feel the same way. The story goes that after directing 21 Jump Street, Miller and Lord were offered a directing job on the sequel, which they declined since they were already directing The Lego Movie. After a while, and for reasons that are not clear to me, Miller and Lord decided to return to the sequel, with the idea that everyone going in to the film was afraid it would be another bad second outing. Because of this outlook, the movie is completely aware that it is the exact same thing as last time. It hits the same plot points, almost beat for beat, and rarely evolves the characters in any meaningful way. And while the film is doing this, it's constantly pointing out these flaws and making fun of them. Many films have tried this self aware outlook, but none have been as committed to the idea as 22 Jump Street. The self-referential and self-effacing humor is near constant, mixing surprisingly well with the normal jokes. Miller and Lord are masters at meta humor, they are the ones who made The Lego Movie after all, and this film just cements that fact. 

 Luckily, meta humor isn't the only funny thing in this film. As a whole, the movie is hilarious. There were many times where I was laughing so hard, I was rocking in my seat. These big laughs were also near constant with very few jokes falling flat. What makes the humor in this movie work so well is not just the writing, but Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum's performances. These two are an incredible comedy duo and work extremely well together. It's obvious that there were many improved scenes, but since these two have such great chemistry they know how to play off each other and make improv work. Their bromatic relationship is what makes these films special. There's a point in the film where Tatum and Hill's "relationship" is jeopardized, and they play the scene like a break-up in a romantic comedy. This isn't the only romantic-comedy-esc scene, and they all lead to comedy gold.

Beyond these two aspects, there nothing else really carrying the film. The supporting characters are good but not memorable. Ice Cube is hilarious, but he is doing the same thing he always does. There are a ton of cameos, not only from Jump Street alumni, but from random celebrities as well. It's difficult to critique this movie, since it's already pointing out its own flaws. Anything I could complain about, the movie already does for me and makes better jokes about these flaws as well. The movie is simple, there's no complex plot, no deep characters, no moral ambiguity, but that's just fine. 22 Jump Street is a surprisingly smart comedy that's not afraid to go dumb sometimes, it knows what movie it is and runs with the idea until it has no place go. It is one of the funniest movies I've seen and one of the best sequels too. If you love the original film, or Phil Lord and Chris Miller in general, this is a must see.


RATING
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Hey There...

     ...So I missed this blogs three year anniversary yesterday. I felt this was a better time then ever to revitalize this blog, and to give an explanation as to why I haven't posted in 6 months.

1. In November, I got my first job. While it wasn't hard to juggle work, school, and blog at the same time at first, it became much harder once I started working more on the weekends and my school missed weeks due to snow. I then was putting most of my energy into school and work, leaving me with no creative juice for this blog.

2. Honestly, I was getting tired. After writing reviews for nearly three years on a near constant schedule, anyone will get tired. I hardly took breaks, and when I did I felt horrible about it. I know that I don't have a ravenous or huge fan base, but it was a personal goal to get one out every week. While a 6 month break is a little excessive, it has cleared my pallet, leaving me with tons of ideas and desires.

And that's it really. Not the best sob story, but one that I feel is justified. Now, after all this time, I'm ready to come back. I'm going to post reviews whenever I want! No longer they only be a Sundays, now reviews will go up once a week, but on any day I feel like and at any time. I'm also going to start a new series and a Summer review event (which I hope will go better then last time!). I'm hoping for a full come back within the week. What will I review? I have no idea. But, I'll figure it out! Hope to see y'all soon!