Critic Reviews
75
Metascore
Generally Favorable
positive
30(91%)
mixed
3(9%)
negative
0(0%)
Showing 33 Critic Reviews
100
A masterpiece of wry violence and stylized mayhem, The Blind Swordsman: Zatoichi turns loose one of Japan's most brilliant film auteurs, Takeshi Kitano, on one of its most enduring pop legends.
90
This roaring crowd-pleaser also boasts hilarious bits of business, insightful observations into the human condition, and geysers of kitschy computer-generated blood.
90
The summer's most rousing action picture.
88
The kind of film I more and more find myself seeking out, a film that seems alive in the sense that it appears to have free will; if, in the middle of a revenge tragedy, it feels like adding a suite for hoes and percussion, it does.
88
A boisterous and improbably entertaining action comedy.
88
If there's a larger theme in Zatoichi, it's that nobody is quite who he or she seems.
88
It's a top-notch action film, albeit on the bloody side, complete with decisive action, mysterious characters and a nobility and sense of purpose that allows its excesses to be forgiven.
80
As entertaining and surprising as the film is, however, nothing can prepare one for its rousing final fight scenes.
80
Over-plotted and at times incoherent but never dull, this is a stylishly designed, highly entertaining bloodbath full of offbeat comedy and inspired musical moments.
80
Although Zatoichi may disappoint some Kitano purists, who might think it a vanity piece or submission to popular taste -- he's even begun moving his camera -- its pyrotechnics are still audacious and breathtaking.
