Azumi 2003

Michael Wilmington, Chicago Tribune: It's a zippy time-passer. Read more

Andrea Gronvall, Chicago Reader: The tone is bleak and the comic-book violence relentless, but the wirework and Yuta Morokaji's stunt choreography are impressive. Read more

G. Allen Johnson, San Francisco Chronicle: 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. Read more

Mark Olsen, Los Angeles Times: An uneven effort overall that when it is working has a strange, engaging energy that is often overturned by an uncertain staidness. Read more

James C. Taylor, L.A. Weekly: 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. Read more

John Anderson, Newsday: Overdone and overlong, but its lunatic flavor -- check out Joe Odagiri's Tiny Tim as ninja sadist -- saves the day. Read more

Elizabeth Weitzman, New York Daily News: Plot and character development are quickly sacrificed to over-the-top action, but with a miniskirted menace in the lead, it's safe to say that fans, at least, will love it. Read more

Ronnie Scheib, Variety: Though Kitamura wades into blood-and-guts spectacle with panache and infinite death-dispensing ingenuity, the wraparound moral tale feels weak, igniting dramatically only when oddball villains appear. Read more

Michael Atkinson, Village Voice: The world seen through the bloodshot eyes of Xbox zombies. Read more