In war-torn Japan, the Tokugawa Shogun, desperate to restore peace to his people, orders the assassination of the hostile warlords. A beautiful young woman is raised from birth with nine other orphans, to become an assassin. Her name is Azumi, the ultimate assassin.
Failing in its attempts at Zhang Yimou-like poetry, Azumi calls to mind a long, blood-splattered director's cut of a Power Rangers episode.
– James C. Taylor,
L.A. Weekly,
27 Jul 2006
rotten:
An uneven effort overall that when it is working has a strange, engaging energy that is often overturned by an uncertain staidness.
– Mark Olsen,
Los Angeles Times,
27 Jul 2006
rotten:
Ryuhei Kitamura is 37, but he makes films like a 15-year-old fanboy. That is, he has no sense of story, his visual style is basically point-and-shoot, the boys are cool and rebellious and the girls are cute.
– G. Allen Johnson,
San Francisco Chronicle,
28 Jul 2006
fresh:
It's a zippy time-passer.
– Michael Wilmington,
Chicago Tribune,
7 Sep 2006
fresh:
The tone is bleak and the comic-book violence relentless, but the wirework and Yuta Morokaji's stunt choreography are impressive.