This one and "Peril" are by far my favorites. In the opening scenes we see Ogami wipe out three ninja and it must be seen to be believed. I particularly liked the character development in this film. Itto meets Magomura Kanbei, a disgraced ronin much like himself. It appears Kanbei has a death wish and the reason is uncertain until the end of the movie. He is a very interesting character. Ogami is tortured by yakuza to save a prostitute who killed a pimp in self defense and this is how he is led to his next commission. Great story, and action that is second to none. His quick draw in one scene is so fast I swore the film was sped up. Well, it wasn't. The man is that good. Another plus, there's Hamada Yuko. She is one good-looking woman. This is a very enjoyable movie that can be viewed many times and it never gets old.
Add a Review
-
nkingstown316 February 2005
-
Leofwine_draca19 August 2016The third in the excellent 'Lone Wolf & Cub' series is a lot different to its bloody predecessor as the gruesome action takes a back seat in favour of a stronger focus on plotting and characterisation. Therefore it's not quite as exciting as the first two films in the series, but it does contain some of the most powerful scenes yet, as well as featuring the most developed supporting roles. The film adopts the usual formula, with Ogami and his (now noticeably older) son travelling through a remote landscape and getting involved in local intrigues: this time, there are two main sub-plots, the first involving a similarly lawless ex-samurai and the second involving a young woman who's been sold into prostitution.
I thought the plotting in this film to be particularly good, seeing as how the different sub-plots intermingle and finally join together very well at the climax. The musings between Ogami and the rival samurai on "the way of the warrior" are truly profound and among the most thought-provoking of the entire series. The acting is also focused upon here and seems particularly strong – not just from the peerless Wakayama and the increasingly interesting Tomikawa, but from Kato Go as well in particular. Mention also has to be made of Yuko Hamada, who's one of the loveliest Japanese actresses I've ever seen on film – she has a really captivating presence.
Although the focus isn't on the action here, the film is still punctuated by moments of stylish carnage. Ogami is stalked by two trios of ninjas in this one, and at the climax has to tackle an entire army – which he does via some brand new technology built into that cart of his. It may not be as show-stopping as in the first two films, but the gory hijinks still identify this as a superior action-adventure flick. -
A wandering ronin and his young son continue their journey through feudal Japan, taking contracts when afforded the opportunity and facing assassination with each step. This chapter seems dedicated to clarifying our disgraced samurai's complicated code of honor. Though he'll gladly slice through an almost unlimited number of strangers in battle, Ittō's vision isn't clouded by a perennial bloodlust. We see restraint in several dangerous situations, respect for principled opponents, loyalty to his word and, in the film's most memorable scene, a willingness to take vicious punishment in lieu of the innocently accused. The story feels more episodic than ever, with various scenes playing out like a classic movie serial and an unresolved conflict lingering at the credits. Given the rate at which they were churning these things out in the early '70s, maybe there's something to that. The action is reliably good, still fresh and creative after three feature-lengths, though the gigantic slaughter instigated at the climax (ambushed, Ittō single-handedly takes out fifty men and a trio of mounted officers) does stretch things a bit. Wise, then, that the film went back to basics almost immediately after, closing the action with an eerily quiet, respectful duel amidst the dust of that epic battlefield.
-
SaracenReborn28 November 2001These movies were infamous for their incredibly brutal and bloody swordplay sequences, but equally impressive IMHO was the leading actor- Tomisaburo Wakayama a.k.a. "Lone Wolf" was surely the greatest martial arts star ever. The command and authority with which he wielded a sword (and other weapons) was just phenomenal. The blade truly was an extension of himself, and his use of it was the definition of lethal, with none of the unnecessary/show-off flourishes so desperately thrown about by today's wannabes. He had incredible presence and charisma- easily on a par with the likes of say Eastwood or Bronson- with eyes that reflected pure death, and the desolation in his soul. There were moments in the "Babycart" series where you'd swear he was the personification of his namesake, the Wolf. You never doubted for one second that he WAS shogun executioner, masterless samurai, assassin for hire. One look at him in action, and you could readily understand why his enemies trembled at the mention of his name, and ran from him in sheer terror. Alas, Lone Wolf is one with void now, but his legend will live on forever in these films.
Forget Toshiro Mifune. Forget Takakura Ken. Forget Sonny Chiba. Forget Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan, Jet Li, Donnie Yen, and any of those wire-reliant ballet dancers from Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon. And CERTAINLY forget any American martial artists that you could care to name. Tomisaburo Wakayama was, is, and forever shall be, THE MAN! -
Boba_Fett11381 May 2010It seems that with this movie, the third out of the Kozure Ôkami-series, they picked a sort of different approach. This time the movie gets a bit more personal and dramatic, which goes at the expense of the movie its action. However once you get over this and get more into the movie itself, you'll still be grabbed and entertained by it as well.
It's not even fair to say really that this movie does not have enough action in it. The movie still features quite a lot of fights and at the end Ogami Itto even takes on a whole army by himself. Still by comparison it's all a bit toned down and there is also less blood. The entire series is basically known for its fountains of blood but this movie does not provide the best example of this.
It's less entertaining but its a more solidly written story than its predecessors, as it seems. The first two movies were mostly adventurous ones in which lone wolf and cub wandered the country, meeting all kinds of people and getting into all kinds of problems. This movie does more clearly follow one story-line, that from beginning to end is basically all connected, without ever wandering off with its story and follow some side plots with it. Not everybody will like this and I must admit that I wasn't too fond about the approach the movie was taking at first but as the movie progresses it becomes more solid and you can also tell what the movie was heading towards to during its first half.
It seems like a weaker movie out of the series at first but once things start to take off you should be able to appreciate it different approach and see this movie as simply yet another great once within its great series.
8/10
http://bobafett1138.blogspot.com/ -
SnoopyStyle4 June 2020Ogami Itto is Lone Wolf. His infant son Daigoro is Cub. They are on Demon Way to Hell. Along the way, they encounter a ronin named Kanbei who is desperate for a duel with Itto. They rescue an enslaved girl. His heroism impressed yakuza madam Torizo and she hires him for an assassination.
This is the third movie in the series. Whether it's the guns or the warrior with a name, this one has a much more spaghetti western feel. I love Kanbei and his struggle for moral clarity. I also love Torizo's introduction and her character. I love Daigoro's tricking the gunslinger. I like this one the most so far in the series. -
gbill-748777 June 2020A step down from the first two films in the series, with a story that felt more disjoint, had flashbacks that didn't really add anything, and which lagged several times. Rape is used yet again as a plot device, and when a guy tidies up the crime by murdering the mother and daughter afterwards, he's congratulated for behavior which "befits a samurai," which was uncomfortable, even considering the moral conflict that runs through the series. There are a few nice outdoor shots, but there's a long 40 minute stretch in the middle that's all indoors, and overall it's not nearly as scenic as the previous film. The penultimate battle with what amounts to an army has a few interesting surprises, but the final clash is weirdly drawn out and anti-climactic. I'm not sure if cranking these out so quickly had something to do with it (this was #3 of 4 released in 1972), but the quality level of this one is lower.
-
Marc-Kupper30 September 2007This is an AnimEigo re-release of "Lone Wolf and Cub: Baby Cart to Hades" which is the third movie in the Lone Wolf and Cub or "Baby Cart" series. As far as I could tell, these were the changes from the original movie.
1) The English sub-titles were removed and instead the Japanese was dubbed over with English.
2) The left and right edges were trimmed off to fit the image on a standard TV set. This is most obvious at the beginning where the title and related material gets cut off enough that you had to guess at what some words would be.
3) The color is excellent and it's apparent AnimEigo worked hard to clean up the original media.
The DVD runs for 89 minutes. Unlike "Shogun Assassin" #1 which combined elements from three of the Lone Wolf and Cub movies Shogun Assassin 2 is just one movie from the original series. As far as I can tell, nothing was cut. -
Pjtaylor-96-13804422 December 2020The 'Lone Wolf And Cub' series continues with its third outing, this time seeing its eponymous assassins help out an unwilling would-be prostitute by taking her place for punishment. It's probably the most 'noble' thing that its stoic anti-hero has done thus far, even if volunteering for torture seems far less convenient than just killing his aggressors (which we know he is capable of doing and usually willing to do so). After this, the assassins (yes, Diagoro is an accessory to most of the killings) are given the task of taking out a corrupt official, which leads to an absolutely fantastic finale that sees the pair take on what's seemingly a hundred foes at once. As usual, the baby cart has a few surprises in store for the protagonist's enemies (which also includes a string of assassins sent by the Yagyu clan they crossed in their first outing); this time, we're treated to possibly the best, most outlandish one yet. It's really this final movement that makes the affair as successful as it is. Though its overall story is a bit scatterbrained (I haven't even mentioned the third plot-line about a mercenary who wants to die an honourable death), 'Lone Wolf And Cub: Baby Cart To Hades (1972)' comes together in a satisfying and smile-inducing climactic battle that raises the quality of the entire effort. Before this, the film is somewhat meandering and, in a way, a little light on the bloodletting you expect from the series. It also doesn't have a solid through-line and, essentially, feels like more of the same. There's also an unnecessary and somewhat dodgy rape scene early on that lasts for far too long; it's the sort of sequence that seems to be aiming for the specific crowd that enjoys seeing that sort of stuff, which is a crowd I don't want anywhere near me. Still, the movie (which is an exploitation piece from the early seventies) is undeniably enjoyable when its focus is in the right place. It's a short, almost inconsequential action flick with a hint of stoic philosophy and a lot of dead bodies. 6/10
-
You know when in sequels (this being the third movie in the series), certain things get an upgrade without any explanation? Well this happens with the baby cart here. And the baby is quite tech savvy ... or let's say participates more in the fights. Sort of, which is a nice touch. And I actually had to laugh out loud during the last battle, well at the start of it, when ... well you'll see and understand when you see what they do ... amazing.
And quite ridiculous, but that is what the movies are about. Blood gushes, squirts in very big fashion. Nudity and other things included. And our macho hero in the center of all of it. Do not take the movies for real and try to remember they are fiction, not telling you how to do things or be educational in any way, shape or form! It is imperative to never forget that, because otherwise you'd be close to cancel those movies. Sleaze and down and dirty nature is what they relish on. You may despise that (I am actually surprised that the rating is so high, but it probably only means, that only those who are not easily offended watched them), which is ok, but don't deny them others, who can differentiate ... -
planktonrules24 January 2011Like the other Lone Wolf films, it's made by the Katsu Production Company--the same Shintaro Katsu who played Zatoichi in so many films mostly during the 1960s and 70s. This isn't so surprising when you see the movie, as there are a lot of similarities between the two series--though the Lone Wolf is much more amoral and difficult to predict. Some times, Ogami Itto is like this blind character--helping out the downtrodden. Yet, oddly, at other times he's going on killing rampages for the money. I think this occasionally confusing moral ambiguity might explain why the character was popular--though not as popular as Zatoichi.
This film is much like the previous additions to the Lone Wolf series. The movie definitely is adult--with the usual rapes, extreme violence (with huge gaping wounds, severed heads and gallons and gallons of blood) and amazing sword action. Howoever, it's a tad bloodier than the the previous two films and he manages to outdo his previous amazing battles--taking on about 50 baddies at once near the end of the movie!! It's all very entertaining, but as I said, very adult--and is not a film I'd recommend to younger viewers. Overall, its a typical quality production--with an interesting story, tons of swordplay as well as good deeds and bad. While the exact story doesn't seem to matter, the film has two major plots--Itto putting his life (inexplicably) for a young prostitute and his taking a contract out on a dishonorable, greedy and backstabbing Lord and his samurai/ninja army. -
As far as I am concerned, the entire "Kozure Ôkami" ("Lone Wolf And Cub") film series starring Tomisaburo Wakayama is as magnificent as cinema can get, and it is films like these that make me a cinema lover. The third entry to cycle, "Kozure Ôkami: Shinikazeni mukau ubaguruma" aka. "Lone Wolf And Cub: Baby Cart To Hades" is yet another ingenious entry to a brillain series. Apart from the stunning violent bloodshed, fascinating philosophy, beautiful photography and countless other ingenious qualities, the arguably most brilliant aspect of the "Ôkami" films is the portrayal of the father-son relationship between Ôgami Itto and his son Daigoro, and its depiction once again deepens in this film.
Ôgami Itto (Tomisaburo Wakayama) is still following the 'path to hell' with his only son Daigoro (Akihiro Tomikawa) in order to avenge his wife's death and clear his name. On their way through Edo Japan, the father and son are once again confronted with a vast number of enemies (above all the Yagyu-clan), and the 'Lone Wolf with child' is once again hired as an assassin (as always for 500 Ryu). Ôgami Itto, my personal favorite (anti-)hero character EVER in cinema, is, as always, completely fearless and almost invincible. Not only is he fearless in battle, and following a strict moral code when walking his way of vengeance, however. In this third entry to the cycle, he is also more selfless than in the other parts. He voluntarily submits to torture, for example, in order to help out a girl forced into prostitution... His son Daigoro, who is of equal importance to the series, and an equally great character grows a bit with every one of the movies, and occasionally actively engages in battle. The baby cart, in which Daigoro sits most of the time, has even more secret weapons and gadgets than in the foregoing films.
Tomisaburo Wakayama is once again outstanding in his role and so is Akihiro Tomikawa in the role of Daigoro, positively the coolest child-role in motion picture history. The stylish swordplay and battle sequences are once again excessively bloody, and while the first two parts were equally violent in their depiction of blood-soaked carnage, the death toll rises to enormous numbers from the third part forth. The film is once again excellently photographed on beautiful and fascinating locations, the camera-work is simply fantastic and the score is as cool as in all parts. The entire "Kozure Okami"-cycle ranges high among my all-time favorites, and even though this third part is my least favorite entry to this brilliant cycle, it is an absolute must-see! Not to be missed! -
davidmvining16 February 2021Finally, three movies in, I feel like this franchise pulled together its disparate elements into something approaching a cohesive whole. It's not entirely successful, but I do think that it's successful enough to work overall.
The movie starts as has become routine with these films with a moment allowing Itto Ogami, former Shogunate Executioner, to demonstrate his incredible skill with a blade against those sent by the Yagyu Clan to kill him. He dispatches a group of ninjas with ease and skill in an aesthetic display devoid of any real tension but is pretty enough to look at. However, once the movie moves beyond that, things automatically feel better. We get a scene with four mercenary swordsmen, one of whom, Kanbei, was a samurai and still clings to the old ideals of Bushido, where Kanbei stands apart from the other three. The three see an attractive young woman and her mother and immediately run after them to rape them. Kanbei comes across the scene, kills the two women and one of the men, creating the tale that only the one he killed was responsible for the event and that Kanbei and the other two stopped him. However, Ogami wanders by with his cart. Knowing Ogami by reputation, Kanbei wants a duel, which Ogami accepts that then declares a draw before a single blow gets struck. Kanbei, left with the knowledge of his lowered station and Ogami's demonstration of the samurai ideal, doesn't know how to react and just stands there as Ogami walks away.
Then, the movie does what its predecessors did and introduces and extended subplot that dominates the film for about half and hour and ultimately doesn't matter. Ogami protects a newly purchased prostitute on her way to the brothel from the brothel mistress when the young girl kills the man taking her to the brothel. Ogami accepts torture in her place, letting her free. His stoic acceptance of a punishment not his even strikes fear in the torturers' hearts. This is just another demonstration of Ogami being a badass samurai. I get it. By this point, it's rather uninteresting. That the brothel mistress appears in the movie's final third as purely a witness to the later events seems to be proof that Misumi knew that he needed to tie these tales together more tightly, but he didn't know how to actually bring them together.
The final half or so of the film is dominated by Ogami taking on another assassination contract. The first retainer of a disgraced house hires Ogami to kill the new governor who conspired to have the former daimyo executed because of the daimyo's insanity. The retainer weeps for the lost positions of hundreds of other retainers. The governor, though, hears of Ogami's presence in the region and invites Ogami to his residence to discuss a contract to kill the first retainer. This is where Ogami's completely stoic nature works against the film a bit. The governor dangles a piece of information that could help Ogami take the ultimate revenge against the Yagyu Clan in partial exchange for his services, but Ogami doesn't even think about it. He flat out refuses the governor because he already has a conflicting contract. There's no internal conflict that we can discern as the audience, and the pair of moral questions that end up beguiling the audience are completely ignored by Ogami himself. First is the idea that Ogami could gain more from one contract than the other. The other is that the governor was acting in the interests of the region when he let word of the insane daimyo's inability to govern become known. He was killing his retainers with no reason, so the region is in better hands with the new governor.
I think the movie is trying to set up Ogami as the ideal samurai, and it doesn't seem to reflect as well upon Ogami as Misumi seems to believe. Ogami is an unthinking killing machine. Cutting through complex moral questions without any real consideration because his interpretation of Bushido requires simple answers. I would consider this lack of address a failing on the part of the movie (much like I addressed in the previous film's review) save for one event late in the film.
The governor, knowing Ogami's reputation and figuring out his motive to assassinate him, brings a small army to bear upon Ogami, including with help from retainers from the neighboring region. In the most ridiculous action scene of the franchise up to this point, Ogami kills literally every soldier up against him in shots that show Ogami slowly making killing moves while a dozen enemies are right behind him with swords drawn and no inclination to move against him while he's unprotected. However, once that silly display of one against many fight logistics is over and Ogami kills the governor with a hidden set of pistols, Kanbei reappears and the movie gains something again. The two duel, and Ogami obviously wins, but Kanbei gets his moment to reflect as he dies much like the third brother got in the previous film. The difference is that Kanbei was actually established well early, so his reflection on Ogami's perfection as a samurai even outside of the bounds of duty to a specific lord carries some emotional weight. The movie just ends with questions around the perfection of the samurai code without any real answers, and that's where I feel like the movie works best.
Now, having said all of that, the brothel mistress witnesses the entire battle for no reason and never interacts with Ogami.
If these movies would decide to focus on a single story, giving it all the time it needs to flesh out, they could be really special. As it is, Baby Cart to Hades is the first in the series to rise above mediocrity by simply giving one of its two major tales this kind of room along with a bit more than just samurai swordplay to look at. There's still room for improvement by incorporating the prostitute storyline more fully into the overall action, but I'm happy with the film as it is. -
jethrojohn6 October 2022If you've seen any of these films, you know what you're getting.
However, the film's obsession with sexual assault, and the way it is treated so flippantly, is incredibly hard to stomach.
I don't mind violence. But the way this film in particular treats it is pretty gross.
None of the female characters come off as any good in this film, either. They either serve as meek damsels, bodies to be sexually assualted to make the bad guys seem bad, or annoyingly smug amoral scumbags.
Which makes the matter worse.
If you can stomach all of that, then you have the usual slicing and dicing and fights and stuff, which are typically well done.
It's a shame, because if this series dropped its awful attitudes towards women, it would be more fun.
As it is, I found myself pressing fast forward any time it devolved into distasteful sexual violence - especially the scene near the beginning with the wandering mercenaries and the two girls on the road, which was truly gross because I just know people got off on it. -
Azzy30 March 1999Impressively violent. Lone wolf is hired to kill a minor official who murdered a madam's sister. He ends up taking on, and killing an entire army. An Incredibly high body count. Very spaghetti western in style. Good if you like lots of swordplay and rapid evisceration.
-
parentjf24 November 2017It float, it provide you with fresh blades, it shot like a machine gun, the list goes on and on (or does it?).
This is not a story about a formidable warrior and a master of the suiō-ryū swordsmanship but rather a brilliant marketing campaign for a Japanese baby cart full of dangerous features! -
Woodyanders11 December 2017The third entry in the Lone Wolf and Baby Cart series moves at a more deliberate pace and has less action and graphic bloodshed than the two previous films, but still stands out as an important movie thanks to the fascinating insights it provides concerning the strongly held and unwavering samurai code of fearsome samurai warrior protagonist Ogami Itto (a typically fine and towering performance by Tomisaburo Wakayama). Ogami's discussions with fellow erstwhile samurai turned mercenary Magomura Kanbei (ably played with quiet strength and dignity by Go Kato) about their deeply felt samurai code of ethics and willingness to be subjected to extreme torture in order to save the life of lowly dejected prostitute Omatso (a touching turn by Sayoko Kato) reveal that Ogami is substantially more than just a formidable killing machine: He's also a man of great honor and humanity. Moreover, this film still delivers an exciting action set piece at the end with Ogami taking on and taking out a slew of men. In addition, the final confrontation between Ogami and Magomura packs a potent emotional (and visceral) punch. A very solid and satisfying film.
-
boblipton13 April 2020Let's recapitulate. Once upon a time, Tomisaburô Wakayama was the chief executioner and head-cutter-offer for the Shogunate. One day he came home to discover his son born, his wife murdered, and evidence of disloyalty to the Shogun planted by the evil Yagyu clan. He pledged himself and his son, Akihiro Tomikawa, to the road to Hell. Now they travel the countryside, with Tomikawa in a baby buggy equipped like James Bond's Aston-Martin, with a sign reading "Baby and services for hire"; services are assassination. Every movie, the Yagyu hire someone to kill him. Every episode, some one hires him to kill someone. The amount of blood that spurts like a shaken bottle of soda with Pop Rocks, bloody fake body parts, and impassivity by Wakayama is formidable.
It's based a popular manga that turned into this series of movies, a television show, and a stage play. Clearly, this is someone's idea of a good time.
Anyway, in this one, Wakayama succors a woman who's been sold to a brothel and killed the merchant who also tried to rape her. He takes her place for a couple of rounds of extreme torture, then is hired by them to assassinate the local governor, while Wakayama faces a bunch of people who try to kill him, including an army of about a hundred soldiers.
It's all produced in a highly competent manner. Chikashi Makiura's camerawork is clearly modeled on the manga. It's not my idea of a good time, but if it's yours, it's well done. -
EVOL6668 February 2006The BABY CART series are an excellent set of films involving a wandering ronin and his son, Daigoro who were betrayed by their original clan, and are out to seek justice (and a little cash...) along the way.
This one has Itto involved in a run-in with a prostitute, where he undergoes torture on behalf of the hooker who killed a pimp. Other side-stories include Itto's meeting another "disgraced" samurai, and his next "job" - to kill an officer who killed the whore-house madam's sister, and a great fight scene where Itto takes on a whole gang of assassins...
Another solid entry in the "classic" BABY CART series - again, beautifully filmed and acted with great story lines and action - and as always, the interaction between father-and-son assassins is a strange and beautiful sight to behold. Definitely Recommended 8.5/10 -
Notably less bloodspray and vengeance
The Female Boss of a brothel hires Lone Wolf to kill Sawatari , a man whom sold out the Domain to the Shogunate for personal profit and false position as new governor. Along the way he saves an innocent village girl sold into prostitution, and befriends a samurai-turned-mercenary.
Final battle features Ogami vs 50 man army -
t-d-t-m829 November 2023The sequences for the action scenes are incredible. The flips and the techniques and the close-ups of the camera on the action is awesome.
There's plenty of dialogue and it's very intense on the way of the Bushido. The code of the Samurai. It's got a lot of awesome interaction and respect between the characters before the ultimate duels take place.
Hollywood can learn a lot from this. No CGI. All action. All real. All samurai. It's a marital arts' treat and the Director has shown vision and guts to make such an interesting period films.
The big fight near the end is so good and amazing to watch. The style is just perfect. Amazing movie. -
charlesem10 September 2022There's no let-up to the bloodshed in the third installment of the Lone Wolf and Cub series: At the end, Ogami Itto (Tomisabuo Wakayama) stands alone in the middle of a corpse-strewn field, having vanquished an army of a couple of hundred men single-handedly - or rather, with the help of little Daigoro and the baby cart, which is revealed to be a formidable fighting vehicle. But the most disturbing violence in the film is the rape of two women near the beginning of the film - disturbing because it is treated realistically, rather than with the tricks of style that characterize the film's swordplay. The women are set upon by a gang of idlers, men waiting to be hired as fighters by whoever needs them. One member of the gang, however, holds himself aloof from the raping and pillaging that the others typically indulge in. He's Kanbei (Go Kato), a former samurai turned ronin, who is conscience-stricken, we learn, having been dishonored for an earlier failure to follow the orders of his lord to the letter, even though his actions saved the lord's life. This time, Kanbei remains loyal to the gang he has taken up with, and having come late to the scene of the rape, kills the two women and their servant, then has the three rapists draw straws to choose the one among them who will be killed as punishment for the rape. But just as Kanbei is killing the one who drew the short straw, Ogami comes upon the scene and kills the other two men. Kanbei challenges Ogami to a duel, but Ogami sheathes his sword and calls it a draw. What's going on here is a complex working out of the samurai code, which will resolve itself poignantly if bloodily at the end of the film when Ogami and Kanbei meet again. Which is to say that beneath the flash and dazzle of the multifarious violence of Lone Wolf and Cub: Baby Cart to Hades, which includes an extended sequence in which Ogami is tortured to save a woman being sold into prostitution, lies a moral vision that's both alien and comprehensible.
-
cnker26 September 2023I am a little bothered with the amount of rape depicted in the story telling, but that aside, everything else here feels like a more refined take on what the first two films aim for. Its a lot more of the same, but with a higher production value, trading out some of the campiness for something (relatively) more grounded. If that makes for a better or worse experience, it depends on your taste as a viewer obviously. But theres no denying that the attention to detail, use of cinematography, and overall techniques in directing have been leveled up here.
The visuals are especially more beautiful and engaging this time around, with brilliant compositions that capture the beauty of the japanese jungles and countryside. They arent afraid to let the natural greens of the environment act as center stage for the story. And it makes a world of difference. The film gives you plenty of moments to rest and take in the view before the juxtaposition of absurdly stylized violence slashes in. (Which, the blood is still as splashy as ever, but looks much less like bright red barn paint in this installment.)
In many ways the story is more of the same as before, 'an exceptionally strong man, with a demonic level of sword skills, solves his problems with violence, steered by a code of honor, (a demon's honor, on the path to hell, as he claims it). He is an assassin, forever hunted by other assassins, navigating a quiet but unmistakable compassion for others in grief. And as always, is finding time to bond with his infant son. And lets not forget the trusty baby cart, which is just as much a prominent character, decked out in every way with hidden weaponary.
Seeing these things repeated for the third time might not be as charming or clever as it was during the first, or as amusing and flashy as it was in the second, but, instead, the third offering leans into an experience that's more sophisticated and technically refined. This time around, the film is willing to breathe in the scenery and reflect on larger subtexts before assaulting you with its bloody deaths, sexual violence, and its quick and clever choreography.
It wont be everyones favorite in the series, as the slightly more serious tone does lose some of the charm brought in with the strikingly low budget and campiness of the first two movies, but if you wanted to see the epic story continue and recieve a buff to its production value: this one is a winner! -
jamesrupert201414 April 2020Ogami Itto (Tomisaburo Wakayama) and his young son Daigoro (Akihiro Tomikawa) continue to wander through Edo Japan, messily dispatching various samurai, mercenaries and ninja whenever necessary in this, the third installment of the compellingly violent 'Baby cart' series. While a bit slower paced then the previous adventures, this outing still has the over-the-top bloodletting the series is known for and a couple of rape/attempted rape scenes that are more realistic (and more disturbing) than ludicrously grisly fights. Once again, the samurai code of honour (or at least a cinematic version thereof) is central to the story. I realise that honour and loyalty are complex and often conflicting, but it seems odd that killing three innocent victims of crimes perpetrated by low-life mercenaries was the act of an honorable person simply because the victims' testimonies would have reflected badly on the lord for whom the criminals were working - maybe I just 'don't get' bushido, but that seems a bit of a stretch. The changing world of the (cinematic) samurai again is on display as more guns and explosives show up, wielded both by villains and heroes (a pistol in a Edo-period jidaigeki is like a machine gun in a western - both are harbingers of the end of an era). Once again, Wakayama is excellent as the laconic father and the softer scenes between him and his young son (such as the water fight) are used sparingly but effectively to establish their odd relationship (as fellow travellers on "The Demon Path in Hell" rather than simply a wandering father and son). All in all, a gruesomely entertaining entry in a unique series of jidaigeki sword-operas.
-
poikkeus15 November 2009This series has its ups and occasional downs, and the latter is the case, here. There's an agreeable amount of spatter, with an inventive implementation of the Baby Cart's weapons, but the editing film is a seriously disjointed, the film-making itself rougher than usual. At times, the action slows to a crawl as the camera follows the wordless wanderings of the "cub," who nearly gets lost early on. All in all, disappointment.
That said, there's a spaghetti eastern quality to the music and action that may win the approval of dedicated viewers. This installment spends much of its time following the minor misadventures of the little boy, who begins to stare into the abyss of death his father opened for him.