13 Assassins (2010)

A historical Japanese drama about samurai and the Shogun. As an American viewer, it can sometimes be difficult to pick up on the different cultural meanings and background. Some plot points are hard to follow. Motives for certain actions, which are rooted in ancient Japanese tradition, may not make sense to foreign audiences.

I kept a list of character names and key information in order to make it easier to track what was going on, especially since almost everybody has the same haircut. The big showdown between the 13 Samurai and the bad guys in the small mountain town was pretty cool. Interesting to see old school guerilla warfare methods being used. However, the final standoff between the main hero and the evil villain was silly, especially the lengthy death scene.

Rating: C