Over the Top In the Best Possible Way: A Review of Rurouni Kenshin: The Legend Ends

directed by Keishi Otomo
based on the manga by Nobuhiro Watsuki

Rurouni Kenshin: The Legend Ends picks up immediately where its predecessor, Kyoto Inferno, left off, with Kenshin Himura (Takeru Satoh), formerly Battousai the killer, having washed up on a beach after jumping off the ship of the villainous, murderous Shishio (Tatsuya Fujiwara), right where, as fate would have it, his old master Hiko Seijuro (Masaharu Fukuyama). Kenshin realizes that, to defeat Shishio and prevent Japan from plunging into chaos and death, he will need to dig deep and learn a technique he has never mastered before, the Hiten Mitsurugi-ryu. Time is not on his side as Shishio, from his floating fortress of a battleship, is now closing in on the government, despite even the efforts of the likes of Saito Hajime (Yosuke Eguchi) and Kenshin's other allies to stop him.

The stakes are sky-high in this sequel, which really pulls out all the stops in terms of its action sequences, in which, even more than in the first film, the filmmakers proudly embrace their film's anime/manga heritage.

The surprising aspect of this particular film was how long the filmmakers took to arrive at the action sequences, which, basically, are the highlight of the entire affair.  It's forgivable, considering that, the action, when it finally arrives, is for the most part, sublime, but there are parts where the film feels a tad ponderous, even though the intent is clearly for Kenshin to do some soul-searching.It's not so much that the "quiet time" scenes felt unnecessary; it's just that Otomo didn't pace them well enough to keep them from feeling like they were dragging out the running time a bit too much. This movie is supposed to be the payoff of two films, which is why the additional exposition this late in the game feels a tad superfluous.

The good news is that the imagery of the film is very much in keeping with its themes; the first film, in which Kenshin followed Shishio's trail of death and mayhem, was steeped in a lot of gray and black. In this film, the bamboo forest in which Kenshin and his master duel captures the introspective, quieter nature of these scenes as Kenshin looks inside himself for the answers to the challenges facing him. As odd as this may sound, for me, the duelling scenes between Kenshin and his master are the most riveting of the film, even if they're arguably the least flashy. Also, they feel like they carry more narrative weight as they cap off the long exchanges of meaningful (though occasionally ponderous) dialogue between Kenshin and his master.

There's a real satisfaction in the climactic duels that end the film, which I will not spoil though any "Samurai X" fan worth their salt knows the outcome; suffice it to say the battles are well-realized, though the big fight at the end perhaps went a little too far over the top.

All in all, however, it's still a lot of great fun at the theater, and anyone still smarting from having watched the wretched 47 Ronin adaptation earlier this year will be well-served by watching this, which also happens to feature renowned Japanese actor Min Tanaka in a pivotal role.

For fans of the anime that showed on Philippine television for several years before this series of live-action adaptations came out, their cups should pretty much run over.


7.5/10