WakenPayne I have seen the first Zatoichi film and I quite liked it. I thought that it would play out like the Yojimbo movies, he walks into a town and uses his methods to wipe out criminal gangs but it turns out that instead not only do you need to watch the first movie in order to know what is going on but I don't think even that way it holds up.So Zatoichi is going about his day job of traveling to towns to perform Masseur work and cutting anyone dumb enough to disturb the peace or stop him, despite his idea to use violence as little as possible. When he gets there and performs his work he finds out a secret I'm not sure what it is and for that he must die by the hands of this guy. While that is going on he builds a relationship with a woman (...Considering what happened in the last movie with you just walking off I know where it's going) and takes her away from a samurai who believes that she looks like a woman both the samurai and Zatoichi have fallen in love with.Okay, onto the things I don't like. Well the ending. It ends with Zatoichi fighting a crime boss from the first movie, not afterwards but just when it started. I would much rather seeing Zatoichi kick his ass and then leave. I mean during, really? They couldn't cut off the movie in any other way? How about when the people can't find Zatoichi they leave and we see him sitting where he was. I just think that this is one of the worst ways to end a movie.That and some plot elements just aren't explained. The samurai I was talking about earlier is Ichi's brother. My problem with it is that you don't know he's Ichi's brother until his last 2 scenes before the movie is over. Their mutual love of the same person is not foreshadowing, if that was the movie foreshadowing then it is the clumsiest foreshadowing I have ever seen. There is nothing and I think that it would have been a much better movie if they established this before making it the focal point of the last 20 minutes! Please, tell me this is nowhere near the best in the series.I should tell you what I liked. Well, I did like the story and I do think that this series despite the above paragraphs is a series worth following. That and the guy playing Zatoichi, while it is weird to watch a movie where the hero almost always has his eyes shut does seem like a good actor. The same thing can be said for all the main players.I all honesty, this isn't really that good of a film. Personally, I found the original and Zatoichi Meets Yojimbo to be better movies. Everything here just feels rushed, under-explained and abrupt. I just think at the end of the day, this is not worth it anywhere near as others even in the series, let alone the genre.

kurosawakira Never mind the first film to take its time in introducing the character to us, of which I am glad that it didn't rush. Now that we and the others in the film "know" him ( although part of the fun is that nobody is really able to know him and his skill really) the film goes to hyperdrive mode straightaway. It's fascinating to see this in retrospect, knowing it is a long franchise, and trying to map out the development and where the film and its success came from. Inthink the first film is strong because it takes its time in creating its own universe, simply so that the sequels don't have to work so hard in setting things up. It's nice, and so is the self-reference it allows both in humour and mythology, but the films quickly morph into each other. It doesn't seem to be a problem here, since aren't all series all about working for or against the set rules and archetypes in the previous films?Anyway, I think the two films have very well set up Zatoichi's blindness as a metaphor, yet it's the first film that's more ambitiously conceived. In this respect these two first films are like "Yojimbo" and "Sanjuro", Kurosawa's duology. The last shot of this film, however, is one of the coolest film moments I know of. Seriously. That last five seconds.

Michael_Elliott Return of Masseur Ichi, The (1962) *** (out of 4) Blind masseur Zatoichi (Shintaro Katsu) discovers the weakness of a lord and must fight off various assassins who fear he will give away that secret. This was a pretty interesting samurai film from director Kazuo Mori, which relies a lot on fantasy but most of all is just all action and nice swordplay. Katsu makes for a wonderful lead and the supporting roles are filled nicely. The cinematography stretched out the full 2.35:1 looks incredibly sharp and the fights are well staged even though I have a somewhat hard time seeing a blind person doing all that.

MartinHafer In the 1960s and 70s, the Japanese made about 500000 Zatoichi films (or so it seems) and I have thoroughly enjoyed them all, even though after a while they all seem to blend together in my mind. Some viewers, like me, will like the familiarity of the character and story, while I am sure others will feel like "if you've seen one you've seen them all". Regardless of your opinion, they are all well-constructed and fun to watch even if the basic premise of the greatest swordsman being totally blind is ridiculous--you just need to suspend disbelief and enjoy.This is an early installment of the series and it's better than average because it actually has some continuity--making reference to the prior film in the series. Here, in a follow-up, you see Zatoichi pining for a long lost love and having an ultimate showdown with his main rival. Along the way, he falls afoul of a clan who is trying to kill him to keep their secret (their leader "has issues"). And, as usual, the film is filled with amazing sword fights as well as tender moments. This one won't disappoint and is one of the better Zatoichi films.