aka Baby Cart In Purgatory
Dir. Tokuzô Tanaka's film attempts to tell the entire LW+C story in just 140 mins. Hideki Takahashi stars as Ogami Ittō and in a strange but welcome role reversal Tomisaburo Wakayama dons the eyebrows to play the treacherous Retsudo Yagyū. If that wasn't interesting enough, it also has Meiko Kaji.
There's one significant change to the story, but otherwise it packs in a ton of good stuff, revolving primarily around the Yagyū letter arc. The script understands that even though secondary characters only get a brief time onscreen, that doesn't mean the tragedy attached to them need be weakened.
Keeping in mind that it's a TV Movie and judging it as such, it's a worthy addition to an existing fan's shelf. If you're new to the LW+C story, however, the original films are still a better, if lengthier, introduction.
4 cart modifications out of 5
No comments:
Post a Comment