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Azumi 2: Death or Love

Azumi 2: Death or Love (2005)

March. 12,2005
|
6.2
|
NR
| Action

Young assassins Azumi and Nagara continue their mission to prevent a civil war. In their hunt for Masayuki Sanada, who is protected by both an army and a dangerous clan, they meet Ginkaku, a person who shows a remarking resemblance with former friend Nachi.

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Reviews

Karry
2005/03/12

Best movie of this year hands down!

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Artivels
2005/03/13

Undescribable Perfection

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Brendon Jones
2005/03/14

It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.

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Rosie Searle
2005/03/15

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

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kevin_crighton
2005/03/16

Azumi was one of the best in recent samurai movies in the last few years. This sequel, while not hitting the high points of that movie, is still a good follow-up. As Azumi and Nagara continue their hunt for the last lord, they meet up with a group of bandits, one of whom looks very familiar.....The original had a plot that was more simple and straight forwards. Here there is actually more going on, and as a result, with a number of new characters introduced sometimes Azumi and Nagara are lost in the mix.Having said that however, the action, while not quite as good as in the first movie, is still very impressive. But what has also been added is a bit more of an emotional, even love story with the character of Ginkaku. Loking exactly like Nachi (someone Azumi liked, possibly loved and had to kill in the first movie), it gives Azumi a possible chance of love, but as is always the case in movies like this, things never go to plan.As in the first movie, Aya Ueto gives a strong performance in the lead role. The rest of the cast are just as good too. Shusuke Kaneko taking over the direction handles it well.It may not be as action packed as the first, but it is a very worthy sequel.

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Shawn Watson
2005/03/17

Despite the success of Azumi the makers appear to have cut back on the budget for this sequel and as a result we get much less in the way of innovative action and a LOT more of wandering around in the forest.The story picks up not long after the first with Azumi and Nagara still going after the warlords intent on seizing Japan. She soon meets a rowdy young rebel called Ginkaku who looks a lot like her dead boyfriend Nachi (a weird plot that goes absolutely nowhere) and joins forces with them to fight evil.Some nice fight scenes follow but they use waaaay too much CGI blood effects (a horrible trend that is becoming more and more popular) and none of them have the eccentric flair of the original movie. The ending doesn't amount to much either but I'd still watch a third if they were to make it.

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wierzbowskisteedman
2005/03/18

There's no denying the first Azumi film was a commercial product; it was an adaptation of a popular manga and had cast of young, attractive actors and certainly wasn't lacking in the budget department. Yet it more than entertained for what it was, and I can't deny I enjoyed it immensely."Azumi 2" lacks just about everything that made the original so wonderful. The first thing that should set alarm bells ringing is the absence of the superb Ryuhei Kitamura at the helm. With him, he seemed to take not only his own visual flair and kinetics, but the originals style, beauty and most importantly, its heart. While the first had a simple "hitlist" plot, this one has a corkscrew mess of a story, with too many dull characters stabbing each other in the back so many times the potential for any sympathy or pathos is obliterated. Gone is the effective interplay between the lead characters; Azumi and her cohorts are often reduced to a bunch of stroppy teenagers arguing in a forest. Characterisation is non existent; if anyone watching actually cares who lives and who dies, I'll be shocked. The same applies to the villains here. The final battle - in fact all the battles - are completely devoid of any sort of tension. The fact that they are poorly choreographed and abysmally directed - not to mention few and far between - is made a sideline by their own sheer pointlessness. The villains themselves try far too hard to be campy, and even if they were all combined, they don't come within a country mile of the Pete Burnsian antics of Jo Odagiri in the original.####Major Spoiler at end of paragraph!##### Aya Ueto tries her best it has to be said, and she also managed to keep her hair in good condition between the films. Azumi is now a fully fledged assassin, meaning she can wave her sword around in slow motion; unfortunately, now the character is instilled with a sort of Man With No Name style mysteriousness, Ueto's model looks become even more inappropriate. I know this is supposed to be the point, but this combined with the ineffectiveness of everyone else in the film, the stupidity of the plot and the general ineptness of the film in general means it is downright impossible to get behind her character this time around. The less said about Chiaki "Remember me from Kill Bill" Kuriyama's performance the better; it suffices to say her "turn" from good to evil is about as subtle as napalm.Overall, this was just a colossal disappointment. Any merits is does have were done ten times better in the first film. A lazy, unsatisfying - and generally downright boring - mess.

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athena24
2005/03/19

Yesterday I saw the fist Azumi and it impressed me so much that today I went to see the second one.I still think that the movie by itself is good. It just doesn't lift to the height of the first one. It's seems that many had expectations about this one that doesn't came through, but if to look at it without comparing to the fist one, Azumi 2 is fine.The plot is OK. More flaws than in the first one but it's not the problem of this film. It is not as appealing as the first one, but still interesting and never boring. I'm a little disappointed that Kanbei (my favorite character from the first movie) is underused.The positive thing about this movie, is that it keeps the main cast from the first Azumi (specially when I saw them one after the other).fights are great, and pretty much on the same level as in Azumi.The ninja characters are very interesting. They have new tricks and new weapons, and add a lot to the movie.But the movie has two major flaws: One is the character of Azumi and Nagara, which seems to be less determined in their mission and find other things more important ( like love or quiet living), one thing i could never expect after the ending of the first Azumi, and even less after their swearing to Tenkai in continuing the mission.The second flaw doesn't concern the first Azumi, and it is in the dialog's of the characters. They say things that are obvious ,make them look stupid. They also look more dramatic (which is far above most of Chinese Kong Fu movies conversations but still reminds them).Overall i think Azumi2 is a likable samurai movie and better than most in this category.

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