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The Princess Blade Actors: Hideaki Ito, Yumiko Shaku, Yoichi Numata Director: Shinsuke Sato Number of Items: 1 Format: Color, Widescreen, Dolby Audience Rating: R (Restricted) Running Time: 95 minutes Studio: A.D. Vision Product Group: DVD Release Date: 2003-11-18 Buy from Amazon |
 "Really a weak 4 stars,but still 4 stars"This movie has some cool samurai stuff in it via new age samurai.It has some cool moves but at times is slow and there is no tempo to the movie.The acting is decent and the dvd is ok I would recommend it! Dont expect the greatest going into it and you might be suprisling happy over this one.  "A good movie..."I've seen bad reviews of this movie. And I have to say that they don't really matter. I enjoyed this movie... and people should see it themselves to judge that. So rent the movie and make up your own mind. I rented it and I own it now. For me at least it's well acted, has good music, and has good fight scenes, and a moving story and ending... ^__^  "Blunt "Blade""I'm a sucker for Asian cinema but "The Princess Blade" doesn't cut it. Set in a corrupt, futuristic Japan, young Yuki leaves her assasin gang to discover her royal roots as a princess. Don't let gravity defying martial arts (simillar that of "Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon") and the sword slashing gore-factor (simillar to that of "Kill Bill vol.1") fool you. The bullet-dodging scene in the beginning is worth a peak but I suggest hitting the stop button after that. "One of the better Asian films I have seen lately"Some excellent cinemotography along with some excellent action sequences make for an interesting movie. The only thing is that the pacing is not great. There is a huge amount of action in the first half and then the Princess stumbles upon a soulmate and she finds some measure of happiness and it drags a bit. I think some her relationship with the truck driver/terrorist could have been developed before she goes to meet Kuka, so that that fightwould come after some relationship development. As it is, the movie is action, action, slow, action, slow, slow, slow, action. Better pacing would have made it even better. Still, the action is good and character development is decent. "Yumiko Shaku is a babe"Hong Kong martial arts films are well known for the women that kick ass. That trend has started to spill over into the american film industry, with Uma Thurman and Lucy Liu duking it out in KILL BILL VOL.1, Lucy Liu going at it with Mr. Ray Park in BALLISTIC:ECKS VS SEVER. Japan, by contrast, has never really had too many female action stars. True, I haven't seen too many Japanese movies (except for GODZILLA movies), but the only ladies I can name off the top of my head is Sue Shiomi in the STREET FIGHTER series, or Norika Fujiwara in CHINA STRIKE FORCE. Yumiko Shaku is the first I've seen in a long time. Not only is she is GORGEOUS (even that's an understatement), but you should see the look on the face of an unwise fella who is proven wrong when he thinks it would be a good idea to tie her up. THE PRINCESS BLADE takes place some 500 years in the future, when all civilization has descended into chaos. The Takemikazuchi (ya know, they could've made that clearer) are a clan of mercenary samurai assasins who handle any rebels in post-apocalyptic Japan, which is now under dictatorship. The youngest member of the ring, Yuki (Yumiko Shaku), learns on her 20th birthday that her leader, Byakurai, killed her mother. Quicker than you can say GOJIRA!!!, Yuki is out for some payback. I am naturally a big fan of kung fu movies, and contrary to what some of the other reviewers may have told you, this movie is utterly action packed. But it is true that there is much more character development than usual for this sort of movie. Still, there are plenty of fight scenes (choreographed by Donnie Yen.) Other than that, you feast your eyes on Yumiko Shaku. Whether she's kicking the crap out of her ex-buddies, slicing them into sushi with her trusty samurai sword, or just sitting there looking like the cute little angel she is, you can't take your eyes off her. |
