Guest kungfusamurai Posted February 15, 2006 Share Posted February 15, 2006 Well, I finally got around to watching my Animeigo DVD of Shadow Hunters after not watching my DVDR version from an earlier bootleg I bought a couple of years ago. I never finished watching it because I found it kind of boring. Well, the Animeigo version was much better looking, so I was able to sit through the whole thing. Spoilers.... While the story started off interesting, I think it really falls apart in the last 10 minutes or so. We find out the Inspector guy that the three Shadow Hunters were helping escort that document to Edo was a shogunate spy. Well, I saw that coming about 20 or 30 minutes earlier when he stabbed one of his fellow travellers claiming that guy was the spy. But what I didn't understand is how come he continued to carry the document, when he could have easily dumped or passed it off to a ninja soon after they departed the Daimyo? Instead, he's carrying the real one until he's killed. Other questions not clear or left unanswered: Why did that female ninja stay behind by herself without a weapon when everyone else ran off with the inspector and the document? Why did it take the inspector so long to get away? Why didn't he pass off the real document to a fellow ninja to confuse the three amigos/Shadow Hunters? Did the document ever reach its destination? The whole purpose of the mission was to help protect the Daimyo by taking the document to Edo to show that an earlier shogun indicated that they were allowed to stay where they were in perpetuity, whereas the current shogunate wanted to move them to get at the gold. So, with everyone dead, who was going to deliver the document? The three Shadow Hunters couldn't do it themselves. And was that all the ninjas they had to fight?! They still had more distance to cover, so shouldn't there have been more ninjas for them to battle? Yes, I know its just a movie, but it just ended without resolving the main plot. We never learn if the Daimyo's document gets to Edo and if they are saved. I wonder if the director ran out of time and money and just ended the production to get it in the theatres? I still have to watch the second film, so I'm hoping they'll cover the background of the Shadow Hunters, especially Sunlight and Moonlight, who we don't learn much about in the first film. Overall, I'd give this film a 2/5, with its so-so fight choreography, and average acting. KFS Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest pressureworld Posted February 16, 2006 Share Posted February 16, 2006 thanks man i have been on the fence about this one every since it was released Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest biomorph Posted February 17, 2006 Share Posted February 17, 2006 thanks for the heads up.almost bought it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest KevinClo Posted February 17, 2006 Share Posted February 17, 2006 The second movie, Echo of Destiny, is slightly better, but if you did not like the first one you probably would not care for the second one. I like movies with Ryohei Uchida, but I just could not get into these. I feel the same way about the other Animeigo release Demon Spies too. Some good ideas in all of these movies, but nothing exciting. KC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest kungfusamurai Posted February 17, 2006 Share Posted February 17, 2006 I'll check out Echo of Destiny this weekend and give my opinion. KFS Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest GwaiLoMoFo Posted February 17, 2006 Share Posted February 17, 2006 Watched this one last weekend as well. I pretty much agree with kfs, I was disappointed. Found the swordplay to be sloppy and dull. Ninjas were cool at times, but when arent they!? Id give it a 2.5/5, wont be looking to see part 2 anytime soon. And I found Demon Spies to be much better than this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest kungfusamurai Posted February 18, 2006 Share Posted February 18, 2006 I just finished watching Echo Of Destiny, SH2 and I enjoyed it slightly more than the first one. The story is fully executed, and by that I mean the plot does come to a satisfying conclusion whereas the first film just ends before the storyline was even completed. The fight choreography, while not spectacular and intricate, is better and crisper looking than the sloppier fights in the first flick. The acting is still uninspiring, with the biggest offender being the lead actor who I think produced these movies to make himself a name in the samurai film genre. I think he was trying to make his character stoic and emotionless like Tomisaburo Wakayama's Ogami Itto, but it doesn't work. I think it deserves a 3 to 3 1/2 out of 5. KFS Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Daisho2004 Posted February 19, 2006 Share Posted February 19, 2006 I really liked the Shadow Hunters #1&2 I thought it had some really good action scenes in it, I do agree that it should've told us a little more about the backgrounds of Sunlight and Moonlight, but overall it was a good movie. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest kungfusamurai Posted February 20, 2006 Share Posted February 20, 2006 They definitely needed to explain how Moonlight got that mark on his face!! Actually, he does tell the sad story about his wife and kid getting killed by the shogunate ninjas in both films. But Sunlight told a fake story about his background in the first one just so he could get laid. He was like the Austin Powers of ronin, always randy for the ladies. What I couldn't understand, which Mark Pollard pointed out in his review of the Echo of Destiny, with their amazing powers of deducing who is and who isn't ninja, how come they didn't figure out that group of ladies they came across in the mountains were up to no good?! KFS Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.