The paring- uh, sorry: pairing- of Japanese swordsman Zatoichi and Chinese swordsman Wang seems like a good idea on the face of it (like having King Kong slugging it out with Gojira, say). Unfortunately, a few things get lost in the translation, so to speak. Like YOJIMBO, Zatoichi (or "Ichi," as he's referred to here) is a scruffy but capable swordsman; not as hard-edged as, say, HANZO, but quick on the draw and with a sense of moral righteousness- not unlike Wang, who is obliged to wipe out a samurai procession when the samurai (yakuza) start whacking innocents right and left. Wang then becomes, by default, the guardian of a (now) parentless boy, Shaolong. When Zatoichi and Wang meet, their languages prove a barrier they can't overcome. They seem to more or less get along until an unlikely third party throws a monkey wrench into their relationship. The climactic confrontation between the two is less than satisfying: Wang Yu, still using the VERY short blade he used in the two previous ONE-ARMED SWORDSMAN movies, is at a great disadvantage against a character armed with a traditional Japanese sword. Wang gets the short end of the stick in the end (which seems appropriate, since he brings a knife to a sword fight), and the fight itself is very brief... but also kind of disappointing. Although the movie is beautifully crafted, Wang Yu seems to be little more than an afterthought throughout (remove him from the film altogether and it's another standard Zatoichi movie- which means it's pretty good, anyway).
Review of Zatoichi and the One-Armed Swordsman
