Movie Review: "Zatoichi" (2003)

The legendary Zatoichi gets a remake in this Takeshi Kitano version of the classic tale of the blind wandering swordsman with a mission to right wrongs and give you a wicked nice backrub while he's at it.
Kitano plays the quiet and often times bashful but fierce Zatoichi in his full charismatic glory. The opening whack-up scene took less than ten minutes but seemed like an intoduction to non-Zatoichi followers and seems to tell us kids, "This is why he's a legend".

Th story begins with Zatoichi wandering about with his deadly red cane/katana blade in his right hand, stumbling into a village where the Kuchinawa clan rule with an iron fist. He is taken in by a poor "tindera" type with a good for nothing nephew who is addicted to gambling.. you know, your typical Malabon set up.
Zatoichi turns out to have a knack at "sensing" how a dice rolls so he becomes a regular with the nephew at the local gambling den owned by the clan.. you know, the typical Muntinlupa setting.
Things get interesting when two geishas cross paths with Zatoichi and tell their sad tale of murder, revenge and their pain with Kuchinawa head Ginzo as the author. Then, its whoopass time!!!

A simple story with simple twists keep this movie intersesting. I just found the digital blood and samurai effects a little distracting. It was said that this was a very violent movie, but dont expect any Kill Bill type blood spurting, but you get a lot of fast swordplay and fast deaths.
Plus, the keyboard music souded like it came from a Casio 380.
My favorite part was the Geisha dance. I didn't know how entertaining a geisha dance could be. It kinda puts you in a trance. Come to think that the dancer wasn't even a ... well I'll let you see the movie first.

All in all it was worth the watch, just don't let the distractions get to you. Plus, if you are not used to japanese movie endings you might just want to dismiss the last 10 minutes of the movie.

Rocketboy's Rating: *** (3 out of 5)