Azumi 2: Death or Love Film Review

Azumi is back in this sequel to finish the Mission. The first film left a sequel as a must. She and her other band of assassins were tasked by the ruling Tokugawa's to keep the peace and stop the wars by the elimination of three warlords of the Toyotomi Clan. They managed to do this for the first two on the list and so have one more to kill to go. Assassins for peace. Azumi is a little older, a little wiser, a little more jaded but still the size of a breadbasket carrying around a sword almost as tall as she is. Of the original ten trained assassins, she only has one by her side now. In the first film, the ten were whittled down to five when their Master put them in groups of two and told them to kill the other. A really bad idea as things turned out. They have changed director here - from Ryuhei Kitamura to Shusuke Kaneko. Kaneko has a fine resume - three fine Gamera films, two Godzilla films and two Death Note films - but he brings in too many subplots for this film. It loses its focus and ferocity. It feels as if it has a much smaller budget than the first film, setting most of its action in the woods and an open field. There is one terrific action sequence but nothing like the kill count of the first film. I enjoyed this but it feels the lesser of the two films.

It busts right into action as Azumi and her cohort Nagara are being chased by a group of Ninjas out to kill them. They want revenge for one of the warlords killed in the last film. They escape and head back to headquarters to see if their mission is still a go. When the Lord tells them no, that the final name is too well protected by the Ueno Kokusyu, an off the books group of assassins who have a legendary reputation. Azumi refuses to quit and she and Nagara head out and are joined by another female warrior played by the marvelous Chiaki Kuriyama. You might remember her from the Kill Bill films or from Battle Royal or Exte. She has presence that makes its mark.

But the film begins to meander as Azumi starts to wonder if this is the life she wants - of course you do - it's what you are good at - finds herself falling for a bandit who looks like one of the five who were killed and the pace slows down to a crawl. There are a few small action scenes along the way but nothing to make you want to stand up. Her duel with one of the Ueno Kokusyu in the woods as he surrounds her with even closer cutting wires is the highlight. Perhaps after seeing the first film just a few days ago, the freshness and novelty of watching Azumi cut through her enemies like a wedding cake had lost some of its magic. Still, I would love to have seen a fight between her and Princess Blade!