Zatoichi and the Chess Expert

On route to Hakone, Zatoichi befriends both a chess-obsessed ronin and a pair of siblings who are hunting him for revenge, inadvertently putting himself in the middle of a deadly confrontation. Of course, he's also being tracked by assassins too, as well as making time with the local ladies. Several plot threads are delicately intertwined, leading to frantic final few minutes where Ichi kills just about everyone. 12 flicks in and this series is still consistently entertaining stuff.

A decent entry in the series that recycles a lot of plot details from previous entries ... the dice hustle, Zatoichi falling in love with a female travelling companion, a samurai buddy who he's going to have to fight ... but combines them in a surprisingly complex manner resulting in a film that feels laid back and casual, but is really densely plotted.

In which ichi becomes even more of a gambling cheat but enlarges his heart for the helpless( helpless women that is). Its not too bad and the central rivalry develops well. Most scenes if taken in isolation would be enjoyable, but altogether the film is a little slow and the plot threads don't come together so much as ichi blindly bumbles through them like a haphazard spiderweb.

No doubt there is good stuff here, especially the emotional storyline that develops in the second half. But there's way too many plot strands, all of them underdeveloped, and the bad ones get in the way of and confuse the better ones. This is a hodgepodge of a Zatoichi movie, not bad, but in dire need of focus.

It has a share of good moments, like when Ichi's dice hustling finally backfires, but on the whole this is somewhat unremarkable. The exposition is clumsy, with a couple of dissonant narrative threads and no particularly interesting supporting characters.

Not as atmospheric as the best of the series, the cinematography doesn't stand out but is functional. The story, however, is quite well done. Ichi has more than his usual allotment of minor mishaps due to blindness, and I think this contrast of vulnerability despite his seemingly superhuman abilities in other areas works well for the character, giving him a bit more depth. Katsu's increasingly portly figure also seems to suit him.

So, finally, my first Zatoichi film. It was a very middle of the road action movie. I am guessing that the themes of all the Zatoichi films of the era are: Zatoichi is an honourable man, who fights when provoked (which is quite often) and he will kick posteriors. He will always be on the side of good, look after the weak and helpless (i.e. women and children) and be LURVED by them wherever he goes.