Jûsan-nin no shikaku 2010

Tom Long, Detroit News: Familiar though it may be, as samurai movies go, 13 Assassins" is a killer. Read more

Manohla Dargis, New York Times: A stirring, unexpectedly moving story of love and blood... Read more

Joshua Rothkopf, Time Out: If Miike had to make all of his other flicks to get to this brilliant catharsis, it was worth it. Read more

David Edelstein, New York Magazine/Vulture: Has a mixture of bloodletting and exultation that would make Sam Peckinpah sit up in his grave and howl with pleasure. Read more

Joe Morgenstern, Wall Street Journal: "13 Assassins" isn't just an action adventure with horror credentials, but a study in criminal pathology. Read more

Tom Keogh, Seattle Times: A richly cathartic experience with a wide range of emotional colors. Read more

Scott Tobias, AV Club: Though 13 Assassins' setup could stand some tightening, it's all necessary prelude to a spectacular, action-packed final hour where all hell breaks loose and the streets and rooftops flow with blood. Read more

Ty Burr, Boston Globe: Epic in scope, ambition, and execution, it's a classic swords-and-samurai film with postmodern blood and guts, and it's completely satisfying. Read more

J. R. Jones, Chicago Reader: This slam-bang remake of a 1963 feature by Eichi Kudo builds slowly, accumulating characters and themes, then explodes into a prolonged and masterful battle sequence inside a deserted town. Read more

Chris Vognar, Dallas Morning News: One can pinpoint the exact moment when 13 Assassins transforms from vivid samurai drama to insane work of genius. Read more

Deborah Young, Hollywood Reporter: Surprisingly few surprises in this classic samurai costumer from Japan's dark iconoclast Takeshi Miike. Read more

Kevin Thomas, Los Angeles Times: A classic samurai movie, right up there among the finest in the genre. Read more

Rene Rodriguez, Miami Herald: 13 Assassins is a savage, insane movie - in the best way possible. Read more

Stephen Whitty, Newark Star-Ledger: The great thing, typically, about a Takashi Miike film is that there's no such thing as a typical Takashi Miike film. Read more

Mark Jenkins, NPR: 13 Assassins is reliably entertaining, but ultimately it's too traditional to be a classic. Read more

V.A. Musetto, New York Post: "13 Assassins" is a must-see for Miike's passionate legion of fans. But even action buffs who've never seen any of his films before will be drawn in by this masterful exercise in cinematic butchery. Read more

Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer: A film, like so many samurai stories (and American westerns) about brotherhood, justice and sacrifice, 13 Assassins is, at turns, thrilling and funny, visually exquisite and emotionally charged. Read more

Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: "13 Assassins" has what many action pictures need, a villain who transcends evil and ascends to a realm of barbaric madness. Read more

Andrew O'Hehir, Salon.com: Visually spectacular, with wide-screen cinematography from Nobuyasu Kita, impressive, full-scale sets and special effects and exhausting, immersive action scenes, "13 Assassins" is pretty nearly the samurai classic it sets out to become. Read more

G. Allen Johnson, San Francisco Chronicle: It shows that Takashi could be a great filmmaker if he'd only slow down. Read more

Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star Tribune: Epic. Unforgettable. Relentless. Magnificently entertaining. Read more

Joe Williams, St. Louis Post-Dispatch: The dialectic about duty may not translate to a modern Western audience, but the savage sword-fighting is to die for. Read more

David Jenkins, Time Out: The film is built as a long crescendo, opening at a level of considered, Zen-like reflection and ending with a prolonged cacophony of elaborate, town-wide annihilation. Read more

Leslie Felperin, Variety: Wildly kinetic actioner possesses a cool classicism. Read more

Nick Pinkerton, Village Voice: Perhaps something important was spirited away with the 20 minutes of footage shorn for this U.S. release, but the combatants are scarcely distinguishable here even before disappearing under layers of mud and guts. Read more

Sean O'Connell, Washington Post: Does Guinness World Records have an entry for longest on-screen fight? If it doesn't, Takashi Miike's "13 Assassins" just set it. And if a record actually exists, Miike's film just broke it. Read more