13 Assassins

Genre: Action, Period piece, Foreign

Summary: A cruel feudal lord brutally terrorizes his people but because of his political connections he cannot be charged or even rebuked for his actions.  A concerned council of lords decides to assassinate him and purchases the services of a renowned samurai who gathers a team of highly trained warriors to accomplish the deed.

Review: 13 Assassins was something I watched following high praise from a friend and overall I would say it deserves a lot of that praise.  The scenery and costume work really helps the viewers get engrossed in their setting and I felt that the actors all did an excellent job as well.  The opening acts are fairly slow but necessary for the final assassination scene - which is well worth the wait.  In fact, the only major concerns I had with this film were in that final act.  Specifically, I thought the actions of the assassins and the number of their opponents were a little unrealistic (and the last scene but that’s another issue altogether).  However, the film redeems itself from that with one of the most fantastic fight scenes I have ever seen.  All in all, 13 Assassins is an excellent movie and I recommend it to anyone with interest and the patience to make it through the first two acts.

Opinion: Good, worth watching

By the numbers:  8/10

Age ranking:  Late teen, adult