Zatoichi: The Last (2010)
"Zatôichi: The Last" (original title)

A blind master swordsman attempts to lead a quiet life with his wife but he is provoked back into battle.

Director:

Junji Sakamoto

Stars:

Shingo Katori, Takashi Sorimachi, Satomi Ishihara

Cast

Credited cast:
Shingo Katori	...	Ichi
Takashi Sorimachi	...	Ichi's friend
Satomi Ishihara	...	Ichi's wife
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Chieko Baishô
Mike Han
Yoshio Harada
Arata Iura	...	(as Arata)
Kôichi Iwaki
Seishirô Katô
Yûki Kudô
Nana Nagao
Tatsuya Nakadai
Kanzaburô Nakamura
Toshio Shiba
Sôsuke Takaoka

Storyline

A blind master swordsman attempts to lead a quiet life with his wife but he is provoked back into battle.

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Plot Keywords:

blind | last of series | blind person | blind swordsman | three word title | 

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Details

Official Sites:

Official site [jp]

Country:

Japan France

Language:

Japanese

Release Date:

29 May 2010 (Japan)

Also Known As:

Zatoichi: The Last

Company Credits

Production Co:

Fuji Television Network, J Dream, Sedic

Technical Specs

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Connections

Version of Ichi (2008)

User Reviews

Modern but not the best remake of Zatoichi

I don't understand what "The Last" stands for in this movie's title. Maybe its predicting that this is the very last Zatoichi movie that will be made ? Who knows, but it's unlikely that this would be the last time popular character of Zatoichi will ever appear on screen.

Shingo Katori's version of Ichi lacks the creepiness of Shintaro Katsu, and Takeshi Kitano's version, but has much more modern looks and feel to it. Consequently, he appears too nice, and couldn't infuse enough menacing character to the role. The fault in my opinion is not with Katori, but the casting director who've cast Katori for this role. Katori is a good actor, but his strength is in more modern roles, or if he was 10 years older, he would have looked more the part.

The story wasn't so intriguing either. It didn't have to be a Zatoichi's movie to tell this story. The grittiness of the original is missing, and lacks the feeling of the downtrodden in the society. The transformance from the downtrodden to the super swordsman of usual Zatoichi movie is also lacking. What's too many of in this movie is senseless thrashing of people by the bad guys..

So while acceptable, the movie turned out to be mediocre in many ways, and can only be recommended for viewing by a die hard Zatoichi fans.