UnowPriceless hyped garbage

Gutsycurene Fanciful, disturbing, and wildly original, it announces the arrival of a fresh, bold voice in American cinema.

Lollivan 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.

Juana what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

Phil Hubbs Based on a popular manga series centring around a young girl who is raised by assassins and eventually set on a mission to kill off some warlords who threaten the peace of Japan.More samurai than you can shake a stick at, yes we've seen this kind of thing before but for some reason that doesn't matter. There is nothing better than seeing a well made Japanese film about their past, yes this has a lot of artistic license and is more fantasy based but its still damn fun.A curious set of characters all led by their strict master and all played well by the cast, Aya Ueto as 'Azumi' is ultra cute, not the most authentic looking samurai but this is manga adaptation. The rest of the cast are unknown to me but do the job well, nothing too special or original but its entertaining. The deadly character of 'Bijomaru Mogami' is fun, an egotistical lethal merc who kills pretty much anyone for fun and is dressed all in flowing white, think along the lines of 'Vega' from the Street Fighter II video game franchise.Action is fast fluid and bloody when it kicks in as you might expect but its not over done. There is the odd moment of high flying wire work which spoils it in my view, they love that in Japan for some reason. The plot is simple and easily followed, the film looks great in terms of costumes, weapons and location and it comes across perfectly as an adaptation.7/10

lewiskendell "No matter how much I try to escape...I can't avoid it. I have no choice...I am forced to kill."Azumi is a pretty standard Asian action flick with a little drama mixed in. It's a better watch than most, though, because of several pretty emotional twists and turns that the story takes. You come to care about several of the main characters, and the things that happen to them are handled in a way that makes them have an impact, without killing the momentum of what's an action movie at its heart. I can't comment on how carefully the plot sticks to that of the manga, as I haven't read it. Azumi is an orphaned girl raised with 9 other orphans by a master swordsman. He plans to one day unleash them as assassins to kill the various warlords that are responsible for the devastating, re-occurring wars throughout Japan. As the designated day for the plan grows closer, Azumi and her companions face one final, brutal test, and then go out into a world that is far more complicated than the secluded environment they were raised in. The fanciful and stylized fight choreography isn't the best that I've seen, but it more than suffices. There are times that the warriors standing around in the battle scenes waiting their "turn" are hard to ignore, but that's a pretty minor complaint. There are some pretty cool and memorable moments, as well. The battles are frequent and entertaining, and the levels of bloody carnage are noticeable, without being overly gratuitous. There isn't any definite thing I can point to as the main reason why I liked Azumi so much. It's true that it's another of countless similar sword-fighting movies set in ancient Japan, but it's well-made and enjoyable. If you'd like a satisfying action flick with a very pretty girl as the lead and a few genuinely sad moments, this is a good movie to try.

knuckles_and_sonic I expected more from this movie. I knew it was going to be an action movie but it just never really worked that well. The first half I enjoyed...but as soon as the story moved onto the other characters except for Azumi was when I felt that the movie lost its focus. Also I know its based on a manga but how can someone survive thats been stabbed so many times whilst his friend dies from a few slashes? I love Uteo Aya in this. Shes very pretty and her acting was good. The settings were beautiful and the fight scenes were alright but it was lacking something and I can't quite put my finger on what it was.If you have time to spare watch it and make your own judgement but I felt it was pretty average.

kevin_crighton After a bloody battle, a General promises a Priest that he will train assassins, to bring about peace in the land. Years later, 9 boys and 1 girl, Azumi, are trained for the task.After having to kill someone close to her before she begins the mission, she carries it out without questioning. Not until she meets Yae a member of a group of traveling performers does she question what she is doing, until an act of violence, makes her realize where she belongs...Azumi is based on a Japanese comic. And you can tell from the direction of the movie by Ryuhei Kitamura that he's tried to capture the style of a comic book. I'd never heard of the comic book so don't know how close the movie is, but as a movie, it is fantastic. Not only in the fast paced direction, but also in a wonderful performance from Aya Ueto as Azumi. Despite only being a young girl, she handles the bloody action scenes very well, and in the quieter moments conveys Azumi's thoughts and fears.The rest of the cast all do well. As I've mentioned before in reviews, it's always hard to tell if a performer is doing well or not when it is in a foreign language, but I will watch a subtitled movie (which Azumi is) over a poor or badly dubbed movie.But first and foremost this is an action movie, and it delivers this brilliantly. From the smaller fights, up to the massive climax as Azumi fights on her own against a couple of hundred! Oh, and it is bloody. You get the feeling that there were crew members just of camera tossing buckets of blood onto the stunt-men and actors at times!!While this movie will probably never be regarded in the same league as some of the samurai movies from the past, it is exciting, violent, bloody and very impressive. And definitely worth watching.