As one has to expect from Yoshiaki Kawajiri, this film will get you glued to the screen, it has loads of action, a decent story, and details typical from previous films Kawajiri's directed before (A cynical hero, strong willed women, ruthless and cunning villains, and annoying, but wise, old men).However, it seems to lack the distinctive "atmosphere" that previous Kawajiri anime flicks had (at least in my opinion, for those who have seen Ninja Scroll or Cyber City Oedo you can feel that "darker" atmosphere). Probably because the color scheme was brighter. I won't spoil the story, as it's very interesting and you'll probably and up watching it even if you aren't a Highlander fan. As for this movie, its not linked to the original in any way (sans the immortality plot), but somehow demonstrates how the follow-ups should have been, instead of making those bad sequels with rather bad concepts.