B
B
Based on the Capcom video game series, Sengoku Basara: Samurai Kings (2009) is an over-the-top samurai adventure set during the wars that led to the unification of Japan under the Tokugawa Shoguns. The battles among the provincial lords take a back seat to the rivalry between Sanada Yukimura ("The Tiger Cub of Kai") and Date Masamune ("The One-Eyed Dragon"). They're forced to ally against Oda Nobunaga, the brutal but charismatic general who conquered most of Japan--depicted as a monster who slurps sake from a human skull. The large cast includes fantastically costumed feudal lords, loyal warriors, and scantily clad female ninjas. The period battles feature such unexplained anachronisms as a Gundam-like giant robot, machine guns that fire endless rounds of ammunition in the era of the harquebus, and the reins on Masamune's horse, which resemble the handlebars of a low rider's Harley. Director Itsuro Kawasaki and screenwriter Yasuyuki Muto use some real names and places in their fantasy, but killing off Ieyasu Tokugawa as a boy poses something of a problem: it's like shooting George Washington at the start of a Revolutionary War epic. The battles and duels recall Dragon Ball, with the heroes radiating auras of colored energy and punching each other through walls. But the endless combat gives the viewer little sense of the progress of the greater war. The story seems to end with episode 12, only to veer off in a new direction in episode 13--which presumably continues in Sengoku Basara Two (2010). Samurai Kings may make sense to players of the original game, but the uninitiated will find themselves hopelessly lost in its alternate reality. (Rated TV 14: graphic violence, violence against women, grotesque imagery, brief nudity, alcohol use) --Charles Solomon (1. Azure and Crimson: A Fateful Encounter! 2. Horrific! Confrontation at Okehazawa! 3. Vagabond, Maede Keiji! 4. Wavering Scarlet Flower--Loyalty That Brings Sorrow! 5. Brutal! The Righteous Battle of Nagashima and Shitaragahara! 6. Bonds Torn Asunder--Mortifying Retreat for Masamune! 7. Marauding Villain! Two Dragons Duel in Earnest Under the Moon! 8. Great Temple of Carnage! Kojiro in Dire Straits! 9. The Tiger of Kai Dies at Mitsuhide! 10. Yokimura Beyond Recovery? The Date Army's Tearful Disbandment! 11. Mitsuhide's Betrayal! Jonnoji Temple Goes Up in Flames! 12. Azuchi Castle Keep--A Fight to the Death for Tomorrow! 13. Clash in the Inland Sea of Seto! Fugaku, the Great Fire-Belching Fortress of the Sea!)
Login
4 comments
Add tags