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The Lone Wolf And Cub films are an example of the greatness that the genre of samurai film can achieve...in storytelling, filmmaking, acting and slashing through enemies with a sword. Over the span of six movies, the amazing actor Tomisaburo Wakayama portrayed the shogun’s personal assassin turned wandering, masterless samurai (or ronin), in one of the most appreciated and admired roles in the proud history of jidaigeki, or historical, films. Running from 1972 to 1974, this manga based story followed the exploits of the formidable warrior Ogami Itto as he wandered the countryside with his young son taking mercenary jobs and being hunted by the demons of his past. It was a monstrous hit in Japan and soon word of the amazing series of films had spread to the West. In 1980, the first two Lone Wolf And Cub films were edited together into a hyper-violent story and renamed Shogun Assassin for the new marketplace. Once again, this baby-cart pushing sword master found a new height of popularity...even at the expense of those new fans missing out on a whole film in the process. The film that THIS review is being written for is Animeigo’s Shogun Assassin 2, which in reality is the third in the Lone Wolf And Cub series, originally titled Babycart To Hades. Many believe this to be the strongest of the Lone Wolf pictures, if not one of the strongest samurai films period, and while I would not necessarily go that far, I would find it easy to say that this is a fine example of the genre. Ogami Itto has a knack for finding trouble as he wanders the pathways of Japan’s countryside...or it has a habit of finding him. Either way, this time around trouble comes in the guise of a prostitute who is driven to murder her pimp, and earning herself a very healthy beating in the process. Our ronin, being the stand-up guy that he is, offers to take her beating in her stead...an offer that he is taken up on, partially because who is gonna say no to this guy and partially because he is being sized up by a potential employer. The beating goes well, meaning only that Ogami takes it like a true warrior and refuses to let it break him; and without his even knowing it, he has now passed his job interview as well! As is true for most assassins for hire, Ogami is hired by a mysterious figure from his past to assassinate someone of importance. As is true for most people of importance, this particular target has some healthy protection and getting through it is going to take all the skills our ronin possesses; which, lucky for him, are immense. It isn’t long before limbs are flying, blood is spurting, and bodies are piling up in the wake of one very determined ronin and the rumbling wooden wheels of his young son’s baby cart. One of the things that I enjoyed the most about this installment in the Lone Wolf And Cub series is that we get a chance to see the “cub” helping out a little more than in the previous films. Acting as a diversion, acting as bait for an elaborate setup, and as always, staring blankly as his father dispatches countless enemies in lightning bursts of violence. This kid is going to be one interesting individual when he grows up...I wonder if anyone has thought of doing a new series involving just this idea. Hmm...it’s my idea, don’t steal it. I will say that Shogun Assassin 2 is a little more “talky” than I might prefer my samurai films to be. In the interest of back story and adding a little history and character development to the tale, there are a good many scenes of flashback dialog and filler. The amount of swordplay and violence is a decent balance to this, but I still found a few moments where the fast forward button finger was itching. This may also have something to do with a surprising alteration from Animeigo’s normal releases...a dubbed presentation. For a company whose releases I regularly praise in regards to their commitment to keeping original material accurate and who offer some of the greatest subtitles in cinema, the shock of an English language ONLY version took some getting used to. But there was NO getting used to the horrible Western voice actors...ugg. Actor Tomisaburo Wakayama continues to display swordsmanship that is awe inspiring, even when presented in a fictional cinematic experience. This man handles a sword like an extension of his own body and performs iaido techniques that will have you rewinding and watching them again in slow motion to see just how graceful he really is. In Shogun Assassin 2, you will have plenty of opportunities to experience flashing blades as the battles are frequent and well choreographed; the action culminating in an epic scene where Ogami wades through an entire army that has been sent against him. Yes, you read that right...an entire army. This scene proved to be so popular in fact that in the remaining three Lone Wolf And Cub films, Ogami gets to do it all over again at the end of each film. Samurai films are hard to nail down, simply because they can embrace so many different styles: mysteries, violent action films, horror, period dramas and even romance tales. But when most of us think “samurai”, we think the stuff of Shogun Assassin 2. Just about any fan of the genre will find it easy to appreciate this film, although die-hard fans just might object to the renaming and the poor dub which the film Lone Wolf And Cub: Babycart To Hades has undergone. An easy decision to be sure, seeing as how many fans have never made the connection between the two titles and will simply gobble this up due to the name. I say, no matter why you decide to add this one into your collection, you probably should. In one of its two forms this film is a must have, and since it is the fine folks at Animeigo who supply us all with BOTH versions, it is a win-win for them as well. -aaron-
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