Redwarmin This movie is the proof that the world is becoming a sick and dumb place

Actuakers One of my all time favorites.

MoPoshy Absolutely brilliant

Geraldine The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

gercs A story about feudalism in Japan is something that I find interesting. The era, when the shogun reigned, when feudal wars sparked here and there, was full of chaos and bloodshed. "Chaos" and "bloodshed" are common catchphrases, but what draws me to these stories is that this era in Japan is something mysterious for me. Perhaps, it is the effect of the country being not too open during that period, and the main question is: What happened in Japan's deep countryside when the shoguns reigned? Although the Western world has their own share of wars, the wars in Japan were arguably more bloody and violent. When depicted in film, it becomes a piece of entertainment in many dimensions. As we all know, what usually makes these films good is a profound story about trust and betrayal, coupled with the showcase of sword-fighting skills and war strategies. The inner conflict and the clash of philosophies are more interesting than the physical depiction of the war itself.The premise of "Azumi" is rather compelling because it is about young assassins. They were children used by the Tokugawa shogunate - deployed as assassins in their teenage years - to assassinate feudal lords who were capable of initiating another large-scale conflict. I was curious on their character development and the possible inner conflict that may arise when they face the world. The film did tackle these things, but the result was rather disappointing. Although there were some profound scenes, it did not delve into these things deeper, and generally, the portrayal was rather uneven and touched only the surface. It went more to the typical action movie side, and went further even beyond believability in the combat skills and endurance of its characters. As the film progresses, I'm becoming convinced that I am just watching an action fantasy flick despite its compelling historical references. If you are looking for an action movie and you don't really care about the story that much, then you may find this film thrilling; although you might be disappointed if you are looking for realistic fight scenes. In fact, it's the thrill and mystery together with some intriguing characters that enabled me to finish watching this film.

Phil Hubbs Based on a popular manga series centring around a young girl who is raised by assassins and eventually set on a mission to kill off some warlords who threaten the peace of Japan.More samurai than you can shake a stick at, yes we've seen this kind of thing before but for some reason that doesn't matter. There is nothing better than seeing a well made Japanese film about their past, yes this has a lot of artistic license and is more fantasy based but its still damn fun.A curious set of characters all led by their strict master and all played well by the cast, Aya Ueto as 'Azumi' is ultra cute, not the most authentic looking samurai but this is manga adaptation. The rest of the cast are unknown to me but do the job well, nothing too special or original but its entertaining. The deadly character of 'Bijomaru Mogami' is fun, an egotistical lethal merc who kills pretty much anyone for fun and is dressed all in flowing white, think along the lines of 'Vega' from the Street Fighter II video game franchise.Action is fast fluid and bloody when it kicks in as you might expect but its not over done. There is the odd moment of high flying wire work which spoils it in my view, they love that in Japan for some reason. The plot is simple and easily followed, the film looks great in terms of costumes, weapons and location and it comes across perfectly as an adaptation.7/10

kevin_crighton After a bloody battle, a General promises a Priest that he will train assassins, to bring about peace in the land. Years later, 9 boys and 1 girl, Azumi, are trained for the task.After having to kill someone close to her before she begins the mission, she carries it out without questioning. Not until she meets Yae a member of a group of traveling performers does she question what she is doing, until an act of violence, makes her realize where she belongs...Azumi is based on a Japanese comic. And you can tell from the direction of the movie by Ryuhei Kitamura that he's tried to capture the style of a comic book. I'd never heard of the comic book so don't know how close the movie is, but as a movie, it is fantastic. Not only in the fast paced direction, but also in a wonderful performance from Aya Ueto as Azumi. Despite only being a young girl, she handles the bloody action scenes very well, and in the quieter moments conveys Azumi's thoughts and fears.The rest of the cast all do well. As I've mentioned before in reviews, it's always hard to tell if a performer is doing well or not when it is in a foreign language, but I will watch a subtitled movie (which Azumi is) over a poor or badly dubbed movie.But first and foremost this is an action movie, and it delivers this brilliantly. From the smaller fights, up to the massive climax as Azumi fights on her own against a couple of hundred! Oh, and it is bloody. You get the feeling that there were crew members just of camera tossing buckets of blood onto the stunt-men and actors at times!!While this movie will probably never be regarded in the same league as some of the samurai movies from the past, it is exciting, violent, bloody and very impressive. And definitely worth watching.

conradz58 Azumi is the best movie that the Japanese has ever made! It's bloody, superb, thrilling, motivated and stunning movie of all time!Azumi played by Aya Ueto, a pretty and cute chick who managed to defeat all the enemies who's wanting to start a war against each other and Azumi and her other friends survived to load a lot of guts to battle against to those who wants the war.Aya Ueto has done an amazing job, doing all that swords scenes and motions, she's done an amazing job!I must say, this is the greatest Japanese film that you will ever wanna see for yourselves. The crew and the director has put a lot of effort from turning Azumi from a manga comic into a Movie that's ever been so amazing!10/10