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Best movie of this year hands down!

Too much of everything

I am only giving this movie a 1 for the great cast, though I can't imagine what any of them were thinking. This movie was horrible

Watching it is like watching the spectacle of a class clown at their best: you laugh at their jokes, instigate their defiance, and "ooooh" when they get in trouble.

In all honesty, the original reason I decided to watch this movie was the keywords, "Blind Swordsman." in the synopsis. I envisioned a film about epic sword fights and superhuman feats. This is one case where I was glad that I was wrong.Don't get me wrong, there are still enough (well-choreographed) fight scenes to entertain the average joe. But the fight scenes are by no means the bulk of the movie. I appreciated that the fight scenes were deliberate, that is, each specific fight was justified with reasoning behind it, whether it be a plot device to further the story or give some small insight to a character's past. There wasn't any fighting' for the sake of fighting'The wandering protagonist, Ichi, is a Goze (a blind woman who barely scrapes by, working as a wandering musician). Unbeknownst to most, she also happens to be a master swordsman of unknown origin. All we see is a laconic, emotionally repressed young lady who has found one singular purpose in life, a journey of sorts. Although she tries to avoid conflict with others, she also is willing to maim/kill anyone without hesitation or regret if they obstruct her path or pose a threat. She takes neither pride nor shame in killing, but she doesn't lack morality. It may just appear that way since her persona is buried so deep that she appears to be a hollow/soulless shell at times. Although undesired, she carries a certain allure about her which attracts attention.. A blind swordswoman with such exceptional skills is enough to make anyone curious/scared.Although the movie may sound very dark, the theme is well-balanced with an appropriate amount of humor. This is due to the introduction of a good-hearted, but overly confident man, Toma, who joins Ichi on her quest. Toma recognizes Ichi's amazing fighting skill and feels some sense of emasculation. He claims to be "quite the swordsman" himself but his demonstrated technique says otherwise, The characters play well off of each other, given their extremely polarized personalities. It allows for the occasional playful moment in an otherwise serious and dramatic movie,Throughout their journey, Ichi and Toma learn about each other, as well about themselves. The overriding themes of character development, self-realization, and overcoming one's inner demons are the true essence of the movie. That said, their journey has its ups and downs but due as a series of events unfolds, they quickly find their lives more and more in the balance, building to an amazing climax. Overall, I really liked the movie. It's common knowledge that this premise is not original, but the form it takes is what makes this movie special. At times, it's both easy and difficult to relate to Ichi, but once you hear her full story, you'll likely gain some perspective into this flawed but beautiful person. A rare, delicate flower which will eventually bloom into something amazingly breathtaking. And yet, this flower is also capable of death, unbeknownst to many. When a flower is at conflict with itself, what will happen when you approach it?

Sorry for my English, this is not my mother tongue..First of all it is almost impossible not to compare this movie to the Zatoichi series - if you watched that earlier. Zatoichi's character has nothing to do with Ichi, not because she is a female character, but she lacks of inner deepness - Ichi got stuck with her past and the feelings from that - she hasn't overcome her sadness, hasn't go beyond it. Unlike Zatoichi , who is ever present, yes he has a past too, but he is able to free himself of it (past is past - he says in one of the series about an event and walk away dancing joyfully). Yes, it is a comparison, but with it I just want to point out that in reality no one can be called a master, who hasn't look beyond the surface. Stillness is inside, outside - like face expressions can be changed according to the situation. The master is who is still inside (like before fight the master stand still - the posture is like he or she is going inside of him or her and from there he or she acts - very effectively), not outside. Ichi's face is, as mentioned by a lot of review, motionless, which makes the movie very unreal. At the end there is a smile on her face, which gives a bit of "hope", but it doesn't elevate the movie. The fighting scenes are all right, the movie is nicely shot, this could be a real potential - if the writer could have more insights about the real martial arts, which is about the Presence - not just in fight, but in other circumstances too. The character development of Toma also could be portrayed much better, remain wasted potential; and Ichi's character could be more visually influenced by the character of the child and Toma too.Otherwise the music is absolutely amazing. Real gem is: Lisa Gerrard and Michael Edwards - The Memory Of The GOZEYet, I would advice to watch this movie, because it can be a caricature about us: if we stuck with our so called past mentally, we could become as dead as this character(and almost the whole movie) in most of our lives...

I had totally forgotten about Zatoichi until I saw some of the other reviews. But there were no similarities btw the two films, and I don't think there were supposed to be either. So this film stands on its own merits (or lack thereof).Ichi starts off kind of weak, with some hokey dialogue. But the hokey dialogue does play off as somewhat endearing btw Toma, the insecure samurai trainee and Ichi, the cold and bleak musician. The story and the relationship btw Toma and Ichi are developed decently, so we are kept interested in the movie throughout. However, the film's pacing is rather clunky and some of the symbolic imagery and the profound dialogue isn't set up well and comes across rather forced. It's almost as if the director is making up for plot holes by inserting random bits of poetic images and dialogue that aren't set up well and don't make that much sense.The action is more or less decent, but the climactic fight scenes are too short and simplistic. All in all, it's not a great action film, not a great romance, and not a great drama, although it aspires to be all three. It's a film that's OK for killing time with, but I wouldn't set aside any part of your day with it.

Rethink, and perhaps continuation of the story of Zatoichi, the blind swordsman. here the blind masseuse and gambler has been replaced by a blind woman who is a trained musician. As the film begins she is looking for a certain man. One can pretty much assume that she wants to kill him. While staying with a blind woman some toughs decide to rough up her host when they won't pay for her services. A wandering samurai named Toma tries to help, but its Ichi who kills the men. Following Ichi Toma ends up hired as the protector of a village built around a town. They think Toma killed some of the gang that had been running rough shod over them, but it was actually Ichi. As the gang moves to take revenge, Toma and Ichi grow close. How it all plays out is the movie.Some people really don't like this movie. I've seen somethings that have blasted the film for not being a real Zatoichi film. Some people have taken it to task for having poor performances, especially in the lead. I really liked the film. I had no problems with Haruka Ayase as Ichi. I found her fine for what the part is. This is not a real restart of Zatoichi, its more a continuation with flashback sequences implying that the elder Ichi was this girl's father. Its a film that is going in a different direction.I have no trouble with the film being anything other than its own thing. You can't really compare it to the best of the Zatoichi series since its not really fair since those films had a couple of chances to hit their stride before they got it right. Its certainly better than the weakest of the series which could be downright dull. If I were to pin point the films flaws it would e the over length, I don't know if the film really needs to be two hours. Certainly it felt longer while watching it than when it was over. The other flaw is that the films budget at times makes it seem almost like a TV movie, especially with the use of computer generated blood.I like the film a great deal and would recommend it, especially if you let the film do what it wants to do and not take for what its not, say a continuation of Beat Takashi's take on the characters. Worth a rental or an evening at the movies.Between 7 and 8 out of 10