Rurouni Kenshin: The Legend Ends is rounds up the Rurouni Kenshin live action movies, providing the conclusion to Rurouni Kenshin: Kyoto Inferno.
The live action trilogy puts into focus the samurai and assassin Kenshin Himura, his resolve to renounce killing and his struggles to truly realize that ideal. But he's not the only one with difficulties realizing their future in the changing landscape of Japan. The pull of the past and the push of ideologies clash not only within Kenshin but with others like him struggling to find a place in the new era.
The Legend Ends is fitting ending to the series with Kenshin's own conflict mirroring that of this new Japan. It's not without it's pains and self-doubt, but it carries on.
The film maintains the same style and aesthetic of the previous film. The tone and color suits the era and sets in various scenes seem small but feel larger. It has that contradictory feeling of being detailed, yet simple. It is this theme which is repeated in various aspects of the movie. Even their clothes and tools exhibit this quality with the presence of varied textures in simple shapes and materials.
The fight choreography is the same, suggesting a realism to the otherworldly fighting skills of the characters. The difference perhaps is the the grittier and bloodier fight scenes. I was half-expecting the typical fight sequence played out in other comic book movie incarnations but it still has managed to be a bit different from the norm.
There isn't much to be expected in terms of character development. Only Kenshin being the title character had this opportunity. Trying to fit as much story and characters from the source material makes this film suffer in this area. Even the more prominent antagonists from the previous film got only a one sentence back story. The most some of the antagonists had was a mere few seconds of camera time. I think this is regrettable as there are so much more to these characters. In this sense I feel that the movie has bitten off more than it can chew. This is to give way to the bigger story and some of the most anticipated fight scenes. Due to this, a person without any knowledge of the manga or anime may find this unsatisfying.
Additionally, they were a few things that are not stated only implied, leaving viewers to make their own assumptions to the how's and why's. But I don't think this keeps anyone from understanding the story as a whole.
Even without much character development, this film does succeed in tying together the whole story. Even with its weaknesses the entire series is still to me one of the greatest adaptations. The director and entire production's ability to give this a realistic take was something I haven't thought possible. I owe it to them to change my perspective of what could be, and isn't that what film is about?
The live action trilogy puts into focus the samurai and assassin Kenshin Himura, his resolve to renounce killing and his struggles to truly realize that ideal. But he's not the only one with difficulties realizing their future in the changing landscape of Japan. The pull of the past and the push of ideologies clash not only within Kenshin but with others like him struggling to find a place in the new era.
The Legend Ends is fitting ending to the series with Kenshin's own conflict mirroring that of this new Japan. It's not without it's pains and self-doubt, but it carries on.
The film maintains the same style and aesthetic of the previous film. The tone and color suits the era and sets in various scenes seem small but feel larger. It has that contradictory feeling of being detailed, yet simple. It is this theme which is repeated in various aspects of the movie. Even their clothes and tools exhibit this quality with the presence of varied textures in simple shapes and materials.
The fight choreography is the same, suggesting a realism to the otherworldly fighting skills of the characters. The difference perhaps is the the grittier and bloodier fight scenes. I was half-expecting the typical fight sequence played out in other comic book movie incarnations but it still has managed to be a bit different from the norm.
There isn't much to be expected in terms of character development. Only Kenshin being the title character had this opportunity. Trying to fit as much story and characters from the source material makes this film suffer in this area. Even the more prominent antagonists from the previous film got only a one sentence back story. The most some of the antagonists had was a mere few seconds of camera time. I think this is regrettable as there are so much more to these characters. In this sense I feel that the movie has bitten off more than it can chew. This is to give way to the bigger story and some of the most anticipated fight scenes. Due to this, a person without any knowledge of the manga or anime may find this unsatisfying.
Additionally, they were a few things that are not stated only implied, leaving viewers to make their own assumptions to the how's and why's. But I don't think this keeps anyone from understanding the story as a whole.
Even without much character development, this film does succeed in tying together the whole story. Even with its weaknesses the entire series is still to me one of the greatest adaptations. The director and entire production's ability to give this a realistic take was something I haven't thought possible. I owe it to them to change my perspective of what could be, and isn't that what film is about?
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