Samurai Fury review by Bobby Blakey
Well Go USA continues to bring all the top-notch Asian cinema to the US. The latest making its way to the masses is Samurai Fury adapted from the award-winning novel “Muromachi Burai” by Ryosuke Kakine and Directed by Irie Yu. The film stars Oizumo Yo, Tsutsumi Shinichi, Nagao Kento, and Matsumoto Wakana, but does it dot eh source material justice and bring the samurai actions fans hope for or will it fail to bring honor to the sword?
Samurai Fury follows the laconic shogun who watches and does nothing to help his countrymen as famine and plague ravage 15th century Japan. Rebellious wanderer Hasuda Hyoe has seen enough and plots to depose the shogun and save Japan from self-imposed devastation and gathers a small army of misfit warriors who are ready to fight back, but victory will be hard won.
Going into films like this you usually expect the varying levels of depth, seriousness and government conspiracies that the samurais and ronin’s take on in their journeys. All those things are here, but to my surprise it had a lighter approach that made the film work even better and feel like something fresh as opposed to just rehashing the norm. It wastes no time getting to the point with the introduction of Hyoe and his powerful stance to set the tone that he isn’t to be messed with. To my surprise while he is the primary lead the film is actually focusing on two characters in Hyoe plotting and preparing for the uprising and the young man who begins his own training from slave to warrior.
It is a bit all over the place never really knowing which kind of a movie it wants to be but it meshes well enough to be one that entertains. I found the montage of old school training for the young man to be a great contrast to the journey of Hyoe prior to them being re-united. The film keeps it mostly grounded as
opposed to a lot of wire work we often get used to in these films. There is some here it seems, but for the most part I loved that it felt more like straight forward sword play and is well choreographed and executed.
The film runs a bit long with some elements that could have been shaved down for a more streamlined story, but thankfully the multiple plot points help to fill it out and keep it from ever really dragging. The cast are all great with them bringing that old school energy to the roles that I love with these samurai films. They are stoic and carry themselves with power and honor even when they are the most repulsive of villains.
Filled with some great action, humor, strong story and excellent performances I found Samurai Fury to be a great entry into this martial arts genre that I think most will enjoy. Decide for yourself and check out it out available now on digital and then on 4K, Blu-ray and DVD on October 28th from Well Go USA.