Azumi has an interesting topic however; this wonderful topic turns into a one, long boring movie. Hyper kinetic camera work is exaggerated, acting is terrible, and battles are ridiculous... Sword play is obviously better than the ones in Kill Bill but that's not enough. Kill Bill should no more be criteria for any Asian movies. There are many specific moments in this movie that requires critical acting such as the moments when Azumi's internal struggle begins. Therefore, when you watch those moments, you see nothing but a posing high school girl; no mimics, no posture, no feelings exposed, no acting. Fortunately, the film is not a waste of time for the fans of this genre. There are some astonishing fight scenes that remind Crouching Tiger & Hidden Dragon, choreography of those fight scenes are well accomplished, but it's not enough. It was not just well choreographed fight scenes that made Crouching Tiger & Hidden Dragon or Zatoichi great movies that are worth watching again and again. They all had an impressive casting and sense of enthusiasm. Azumi even lacks a comic book atmosphere, because it has a grammar school production atmosphere. Ryuhei Kitamura appears to be an amazing director regarding Aragami and Versus but in Azumi he steps back and spoils a chance. Of course, a brilliant director like him can easily recover and mend his mistakes. But it's not something very easy for young and beautiful Aya Ueto, she has a long way to go, it's better for her if she takes more acting classes...
