Shinobi
Saw this at Shibuya's Cinepalace on thursday. Thursday is men's day, only 1000 yen.
A love story told as an martial arts fantasy. There's a little bit of wirework but it is mostly special effects and CG. Very pretty, and fun to watch. CG is not quite up to ILM standards but it wasn't so bad as to be distracting.
Odagiri Joe and Nakayama Yukie are in rival shinobi clans, the Koga and Iga. Since Nobunaga has united Japan, the age of war has ended and also the need for the Shinobi. Nobunaga orders Hattori Hanzo to have the shinobi clans fight each other, hoping that they will eliminate each other.
So, basically: "I love you, but I have to kill you."
Ya, young love is tough.
Though it's worth noting that I saw this without English subtitles, and so maybe that's not the story at all. Though I'm pretty sure it is.
Anyway, it's fun. Definitely in the hollywood mold of genre movie, with a Japanese story.
3 stars.