An interesting take on Japanese history, it holds no allusions to being historically acurate, just very entertaining.
The fight sequences are enjoyable, and typically a picture says a thousand words in that the best scenes are unspoken. Not that the dialogue is bad, it holds up well, and the subtitles are a reasonably accurate translation for those who don't speak Japanese. Well worth a watch and Azumi 2 wraps the story up nicely. I would recommend this.

This is quite a special movie, it takes the old traditional Samurai elements and fits them nicely with a Hollywood feel. Azumi doesn't look or feel like your average kind of Japanese sword slashing movie, everything is different, camera moves, the colours, the shades...everything is slightly different. Which is a brilliant thing, it makes Azumi a very unique movie. The costumes in this movie are quite original, no one is used to seeing assassins wearing purple sexy outfits, and no one is used to seeing the villian wearing white make up and carrying a flower. I personally feel nearer the beginning a lot of the fights look fake, but as the movie goes on they look a lot more real and generally get a lot better. This is a fun movie, a traditional Japanese story, with the new look and feel of modern cinema.

I really enjoyed this one and it even left good room for a sequel. The fighting and everything was great despite a few noticeable blue screen scenes, which I think add a little character to it. If some easy entertainment is what your after it a good film for a Sunday night to chill from the weekend.

However, the subtitles are burnt into the film and cannot be removed which annoying for the Japanese speaker. The extras are good but they do talk about a load of techniques that have been used in every other film too, which puts you to sleep.

Overall, Thumbs up!