Dann in reel life: Violence dominates '13 Assassins'

Reel Life mini-review: ‘13 Assassins'

Takashi Miike's kinetic, feudal-period action film “13 Assassins” might as well have been titled “12 Samurai and a Wild Man With a Sling Shot.” It's filled with ritualistic acts of hara-kiri, rolling heads, lopped-off limbs and impossibly silly fights in which gangs of bad guys never think to attack a good samurai all at once, but space out their assaults so he can dramatically fend them all off.

“13 Assassins” wastes no time in showing just how nasty the villainous Lord Naritsugu (Goro Inagaki) can be. He rapes a woman and kills her husband in front of her. He uses families (even toddlers) for target practice with his bow and arrows.

Then, in the film's most ghastly Miike moment, we see how Lord Naritsugu has discarded a young woman after cutting off her arms and legs, removing her tongue, then sexually abusing her.

It falls to a group of high-minded samurai warriors to buck the old ways and take it upon themselves to stop Lord Naritsugu before he joins the Shogun's council and achieves supreme power.

It takes a long and lengthy 57 minutes for all 13 assassins to finally come together and decide to take on Lord Naritsugu's 70 soldiers.

But Miike makes up for a slow start with about 45 minutes of nonstop combat as Naritsugu's men walk into a village rigged with explosives, traps and mobile dividing walls designed by the clever samurai.

Oops. Somebody made a slight miscalculation. The Lord, sensing an ambush, arrives with 200 soldiers, not 70. Carnage ensues.

“13 Assassins” is a remake of Eichi Kudo's 1963 movie of the same title, but it's also Miike's tip-of-the-helmet to Akira Kurisawa's classic “The Seven Samurai” (remade in Hollywood as “The Magnificent Seven”) mixed with the Spartan spirit of “300.”

Miike often loads his movies with outrageous sexual perversions and graphic, shocking violence. For Miike, the violence in “13 Assassins” is relatively muted and restrained, although disembodied heads are a source of black humor.

As is Takayuki Yamada's feral wild man, who fights alongside the samurai, whom he likes despite their arrogance and honor.

“Your samurai brawls are crazy fun!” he shouts. At least that's what the English subtitles say.

“13 Assassins” opens at the Music Box Theatre in Chicago. Not rated, but it's really violent. 125 minutes (minus the 20 extra minutes in the Japanese version). ★ ★ ★

Sensitive AMC cinema

AMC Theatres will present Sensory Friendly Films screenings of the new animated comedy “Kung Fu Panda 2” at 10 a.m. Saturday at selected suburban AMC theaters. They are for children with autism or other sensory needs. Auditoriums will bring up the lights and turn down the sound. Families can bring gluten-free, casein-free snacks. Best of all, no previews or advertisements! Go to amctheatres.com for a list of participating theaters or go to autism-society.org/sensoryfilms.

Romanians rule!

The third annual Romanian Film Festival runs May 27-29 at the Skokie Theater, 7924 Lincoln Ave., Skokie. Go to romanianculturalexchange.org/romanianfilm-festival.html for tickets and schedules.

Ÿ Daily Herald film critic Dann Gire's column runs Fridays in Time out!