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Animesque: Greed, guts, and glory

» ‘Ninja Scroll’ review

: to the stylized art and
: frenetic ninja battles.

Adam Tatelman
Staff Writer

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N’™ Scroll falls into a
category of Japanese film
known as jidaigeki. This type

of film, which was a major
inspiration for George Lucas’ Star
Wars franchise (Jedi, you say?), is
based on a historical era known
as the Edo period. This era began
after a decisive military victory at
the Battle of Sekigahara, where
leyasu Tokugawa conquered all
of Japan and established himself
as the head of the Shogunate
(military government).

During this period, there
was a great deal of feuding
between clans that either
wanted independence or the
Shogun’s favour. There was a
lot of spying, backstabbing,
and court intrigue. Basically,
everything ninjas do. Enter
Ninja Scroll, an animated
jidaigeki film with a simple
story of greed and ambition,
overshadowed by crisp
animation that lends itself

The plot begins with the
: mercenary Jubei Kibagami, who
: stumbles upon Kagero, a ninja
: investigating the destruction
: of a backwater village. All

: of the typical adventure

: tropes occur, but with a dark

: twist. The village is part of a

: larger plot against Tokugawa

: himself, led by the mysterious
: Shogun of the Dark. Of course,
: Jubei turns out to have a

: connection to the villains,

: so he and Kagero carve their

: way through eight evil ninja
masters to stop the Shogun.

Okay, so it’s not

Shakespeare. Nobody’s
: watching this for the brilliant

script. Ninja duels aside, there

: are a couple of fun twists:

: there’s sexual tension between
: Jubei and Kagero, but nothing
: can come of it because she’s a
: kunoichi—a female assassin

: whose body is poisonous

: to the touch. Yes, that is a

: real historical method of

: assassination. There’s a great
: scene where one of the evil

: ninjas tries to take advantage
: of the unconscious Kagero

: and dies from the poison.

: ninjas is the way their legend
: has grown over the centuries.
: The modern interpretation

: usually includes black robes

: and bizarre powers like

: invisibility, flight, and animal
: transformation. Think Ryu

: Hayabusa from the Ninja

: Gaiden series. The people of

: the Edo Era believed similar

: things, but all of the ninjas’

: seemingly impossible feats were :
: really accomplished through

: simple sleight-of-hand means.

: loose with this idea, casting the :
: Shogun’s cronies as warrior- :
: mystics like Benisato, a woman
: with living snake tattoos who

: can shed her skin to escape,

? and Mushizo, a deformed

: hunchback who carries a

: hornet’s nest inside his body.

: The heroes, by contrast, can

: only rely on their combat skill

: and subtle tricks. Jubei, for

: instance, keeps his sword on

: a barely-visible string so he

: can’t be disarmed. Watching

: the underdog ninjas triumph

: against superpowered

: opponents with their wits alone

The interesting thing about

The film plays fast and

: bad guys meet such ironic fates.

: the spooky Feudal Japanese

: atmosphere, but I had enough
: fun watching this show that I
: didn’t really care about those
: issues that much. When you

: get down to it, Ninja Scroll is

: is great fun, especially when the

: I could go on about how the :
: dub isn’t great and the early ’gos :
: stock sound effects detract from :

This issue:

(YW Sunny, swordplay, and secrets
(YW Comic Corner: Magic isn’t always chocolate frogs and

(¥ Anew breed of ‘Pokémon’-inspired gaming

  

basically a darker version of
: Grand Adventure films like

Indiana Jones or Romancing
the Stone. It’s a formula as
old as time: strong-willed guy

: and gal slowly fall in love on

: an adventure to stop a greedy

: villain from doing bad stuff.

: Hey, if it isn’t broke, and it’s

: got this much personality and
: charm, I see no reason to fix it.

 

Final ‘Hunger Games’ shines radiantly
amid dark, emotional finale

» ‘The Hunger Games: Mockingjay ‘Part 2’ movie review

Aaron Guillen
Staff Reporter

fter seeing the Hunger

Games: Mockingjay Part 2, |
was speechless. Speechless from
the fact that a movie franchise I
had watched for four years was
finally over, and also because
of an overwhelming feeling of
satisfaction.

The Hunger Games centres
around a young heroine, Katniss
Jennifer Lawrence), and the
battle for the freedom of Panem
against President Snow (Donald
Sutherland), set in the Capitol as
the battlefield. Against all odds,
Katniss has won the 64th Hunger
Games, escaped the Quarter
Quell, and managed to stay alive
thus far among the allies lead by
President Coin (Julianne Moore).

Along the way, she has faced
multiple setbacks, including
having to deal with her mother
after the loss of her father,

: helplessly watching fellow

: competitors die in the Hunger

: Games, and attempting to

: fix Peeta’s (Josh Hutcherson)

: mental state once the Capitol has
: brainwashed him.

By the time the storyline

: has reached Mockingjay, one

: movie simply cannot cut it. If you
: had the opportunity to watch

: Mockingjay Part 1, you would’ve

: noticed that the final scenes brim
: with intense emotion just as the

: plot thickens and the screen goes
: black.

Throughout the movie, I

: felt a rollercoaster of emotions

: unlike any other. From the

: moment Katniss’ face appeared
: in the opening scene, all of the

: memories in the back of my

: head rushed to the forefront.

: Nothing else mattered as I saw

: her heartache and pain, as well as
: her self-confidence, build as she
: travelled among the districts to
: encourage unity.

: in, the real action begins. The war
: is at hand. For the next hour and
: ahalf, I watched in awe as the

: Star Squad made its way through
: trials and errors on the journey

: to President Snow’s mansion at

: the heart of the Capitol. Heavy

: decisions stacked upon multiple
: outcomes elevates the Panem

: world toa realistic level. Will

: Peeta ever be sane? Who will

: Katniss choose as her true love?

: Is President Snow truly an evil

: leader?

: go through these difficult choices

: speaks volumes to our generation
: today. Amidst turmoil and

: treacherous times, Mockingjay

: Part 2 questions society’s morals

: and who we are loyal to, especially
concerning the government.

: franchise comes full circle and
: closes with a bittersweet end that
: is sure to make you tear up.

About one-third of the way

Every character you watch

With a solid cast this movie

 

Image via moviemorgue.wikia.com

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