Tomisaburo Wakayama was, is, and forever shall be, THE MAN!Ī wandering ronin and his young son continue their journey through feudal Japan, taking contracts when afforded the opportunity and facing assassination with each step. And CERTAINLY forget any American martial artists that you could care to name. Forget Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan, Jet Li, Donnie Yen, and any of those wire-reliant ballet dancers from Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon. Alas, Lone Wolf is one with void now, but his legend will live on forever in these films. One look at him in action, and you could readily understand why his enemies trembled at the mention of his name, and ran from him in sheer terror. You never doubted for one second that he WAS shogun executioner, masterless samurai, assassin for hire. There were moments in the "Babycart" series where you'd swear he was the personification of his namesake, the Wolf. He had incredible presence and charisma- easily on a par with the likes of say Eastwood or Bronson- with eyes that reflected pure death, and the desolation in his soul. The blade truly was an extension of himself, and his use of it was the definition of lethal, with none of the unnecessary/show-off flourishes so desperately thrown about by today's wannabes. The command and authority with which he wielded a sword (and other weapons) was just phenomenal. "Lone Wolf" was surely the greatest martial arts star ever. These movies were infamous for their incredibly brutal and bloody swordplay sequences, but equally impressive IMHO was the leading actor- Tomisaburo Wakayama a.k.a. It may not be as show-stopping as in the first two films, but the gory hijinks still identify this as a superior action-adventure flick. Ogami is stalked by two trios of ninjas in this one, and at the climax has to tackle an entire army – which he does via some brand new technology built into that cart of his. Although the focus isn't on the action here, the film is still punctuated by moments of stylish carnage. Mention also has to be made of Yuko Hamada, who's one of the loveliest Japanese actresses I've ever seen on film – she has a really captivating presence. The acting is also focused upon here and seems particularly strong – not just from the peerless Wakayama and the increasingly interesting Tomikawa, but from Kato Go as well in particular. The musings between Ogami and the rival samurai on "the way of the warrior" are truly profound and among the most thought-provoking of the entire series. I thought the plotting in this film to be particularly good, seeing as how the different sub-plots intermingle and finally join together very well at the climax. The film adopts the usual formula, with Ogami and his (now noticeably older) son travelling through a remote landscape and getting involved in local intrigues: this time, there are two main sub-plots, the first involving a similarly lawless ex-samurai and the second involving a young woman who's been sold into prostitution. Therefore it's not quite as exciting as the first two films in the series, but it does contain some of the most powerful scenes yet, as well as featuring the most developed supporting roles. The third in the excellent 'Lone Wolf & Cub' series is a lot different to its bloody predecessor as the gruesome action takes a back seat in favour of a stronger focus on plotting and characterisation.
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