Stranger Mukou Hadan, Sword of the Stranger
The film has some flaws yet it somehow ends up being very beautiful.
A nameless samurai who refuses to draw his sword again and a golden-haired assassin from China draw them towards a mysterious young boy accompanied by a spunky Akita.
A lot of things seemed way over the top. Action scenes that seemed too unbelievable or ridiculous that I would deem them unnecessary. The plot itself almost wasn't too convincing and maybe even bordering on becoming out of this world (the whole Gargantuan contraption, the pursuit for immortality, too invincible warriors) although I am aware that in history some powers have opened their doors to these delusions and aimed for nonsense such as these. Especially in a world then when too many mysteries and vague ideas about the world still existed. Maybe the execution wasn't done well enough, perhaps, but in any case it should work bearing the aforementioned fact in mind. Yet it holds you back a bit from fully appreciating a film that's asking you to take it as real and as something that may have possibly happened back then.
Other things that "bothered" me were some bizarre fight scenes that already seemed too exaggerated or excessive. I couldn't help pointing them out as senseless because they weren't really proving a point, or that it took too long to prove whatever point it was trying to prove, or it felt like it wasn't helping to progress the story at all. (This only holds true for skirmishes that do not involve the main characters, though, for some reason. Otherwise they are quite beautiful to look at, with you left in awe.) It would have been nicer to have dedicated some of that time towards developing the characters more (the significant part of which only came up really late) or making the story "deeper". Sometimes when you are left with nothing else--that is, when the film isn't too impressive, creative or unique on its own, not like most Miyazaki, Oshii, Ghibli or even Shinkai movies--you tend to look for the deeper meaning or the message it's trying to impart instead.
The film is pretty, is well animated, almost perfect (but again, nothing too phenomenal) on the technical regard, but in the end it still comes down to emotion and how you empathize with the characters or the story. This, I can say, even though it was too late, the film manages to execute surprisingly well despite the flaws that were a distraction. I was only able to really appreciate the film only when the enigmatic protagonist of the wandering ronin got to surrender the inner conflicts that have been bogging him down the entire film despite his very strong front. Reinforced by the other two main characters' (the boy and the dog) candid interactions with him, I would say that this is only where he makes a real connection with the audience and it is at this point where the film truly and genuinely moves you.
A nameless samurai who refuses to draw his sword again and a golden-haired assassin from China draw them towards a mysterious young boy accompanied by a spunky Akita.
A lot of things seemed way over the top. Action scenes that seemed too unbelievable or ridiculous that I would deem them unnecessary. The plot itself almost wasn't too convincing and maybe even bordering on becoming out of this world (the whole Gargantuan contraption, the pursuit for immortality, too invincible warriors) although I am aware that in history some powers have opened their doors to these delusions and aimed for nonsense such as these. Especially in a world then when too many mysteries and vague ideas about the world still existed. Maybe the execution wasn't done well enough, perhaps, but in any case it should work bearing the aforementioned fact in mind. Yet it holds you back a bit from fully appreciating a film that's asking you to take it as real and as something that may have possibly happened back then.
Other things that "bothered" me were some bizarre fight scenes that already seemed too exaggerated or excessive. I couldn't help pointing them out as senseless because they weren't really proving a point, or that it took too long to prove whatever point it was trying to prove, or it felt like it wasn't helping to progress the story at all. (This only holds true for skirmishes that do not involve the main characters, though, for some reason. Otherwise they are quite beautiful to look at, with you left in awe.) It would have been nicer to have dedicated some of that time towards developing the characters more (the significant part of which only came up really late) or making the story "deeper". Sometimes when you are left with nothing else--that is, when the film isn't too impressive, creative or unique on its own, not like most Miyazaki, Oshii, Ghibli or even Shinkai movies--you tend to look for the deeper meaning or the message it's trying to impart instead.
The film is pretty, is well animated, almost perfect (but again, nothing too phenomenal) on the technical regard, but in the end it still comes down to emotion and how you empathize with the characters or the story. This, I can say, even though it was too late, the film manages to execute surprisingly well despite the flaws that were a distraction. I was only able to really appreciate the film only when the enigmatic protagonist of the wandering ronin got to surrender the inner conflicts that have been bogging him down the entire film despite his very strong front. Reinforced by the other two main characters' (the boy and the dog) candid interactions with him, I would say that this is only where he makes a real connection with the audience and it is at this point where the film truly and genuinely moves you.