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Aya Ueto, Kenji Kobashi, Hiroki Narimiya, Jô Odagiri, Kazuki Kitamura ... see more see more... , Yoshio Harada

Orphaned as a little girl, Azumi (Aya Ueto) is raised in the forest with a group of ten children by their master (Yoshio Harada), who trains them to be peerless assassins. Azumi and Nachi (Shun Oguri)... read more read more... are the strongest of the fighters. When the group comes of age, the master gives them one final test. He tells them to team up with the person to whom they feel closest. Then he tells them to kill that person, explaining that an assassin never gets to choose whom to kill. The teens reluctantly fight to the death. Then the survivors are brought out of the woods to begin their work, assassinating the corrupt warlords who are preventing peace in the land. The assassins, particularly Azumi, perform their missions with flair, but complications arise. One of the teens (Takatoshi Kaneko) is poisoned by a ninja's blade, one (Kenji Kohashi) falls in love with a circus performer (Aya Okamoto), and Azumi begins to question her desire to live the violent life of an assassin. Meanwhile, one warlord (Naoto Takenaka) cleverly escapes their blades, and together with his bodyguard Kenbei (Kazuki Kitamura) and a "monkey-faced" ninja, Saru (Minoru Matsumoto), they find Bijomaru (Jô Odagiri from Bright Future), a violent madman, release him from prison, and unleash him upon the young team of assassins. Azumi, based on the manga by Yu Koyama, is the first of cult director Ryuhei Kitamura's (Versus) films to be made within the Japanese studio system. It was shown at the 2004 New York Asian Film Festival, presented by Subway Cinema. ~ Josh Ralske, Rovi

Flixster Users

81% liked it

16,301 ratings

Critics

47% liked it

32 critics

Unrated, 1 hr. 55 min.

Directed by: Ryuhei Kitamura

Release Date: May 10, 2003

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DVD Release Date: January 1, 1998

Stats: 1,280 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (1,280)

  • garyX
    April 26, 2012
    garyX
    A samurai sick of war takes in a group of orphans and trains them to be assassins with the sole purpose in life of killing the warlords responsible for the constant bloodshed. Based on a comic book and directed in a very anime style, this film has more in common with a superhero ... read moremovie than a samurai epic and contains the associated melodrama and lack of moral ambiguity; it's all about the good guys kicking bad guy ass. And very stylishly they do it too. Ryuhei Kitamura stamps his usual slick visuals onto the action and although he cannot resist overcooking them from time to time, the set pieces are very well staged. The fight sequences get ever more impressive as they go, the highlight for me being the scene in which we finally get to see Azumi's master in action. Hardly the height of depth and sophistication, but it's an action-packed comic strip hack and slasher that is perfectly paced for it's highly entertaining two hour length.
  • phubbs1
    March 11, 2012
    phubbs1
    Based on a popular manga series centring around a young girl who is raised by assassins and eventually set on a mission to kill off some warlords who threaten the peace of Japan.

    More samurai than you can shake a stick at hehe yes we've seen this kind of thing before but for som... read moree reason that doesn't matter, there is nothing better than seeing a well made Japanese film about their past, yes this has allot of artistic license and is more fantasy based but its still damn fun.

    A curious set of characters all led by their strict master and all played well by the cast, Aya Ueto as 'Azumi' is ultra cute, not the most authentic looking samurai but this is manga adaptation, the rest of the cast are unknown to me but do the job well, nothing too special or original but its entertaining. The deadly character of 'Bijomaru Mogami' is fun, an egotistical lethal merc who kills pretty much anyone for fun and is dressed all in flowing white, think along the lines of 'Vega' from SFII.

    Action is fast fluid and bloody when it kicks in as you might expect but its not over done, there is the odd moment of high flying wire work which spoils it in my view, they love that in Japan for some reason. The plot is simple and easily followed, the film looks great in terms of costumes, weapons and location and it comes across perfectly as an adaptation.
  • lewiskendell
    June 12, 2011
    lewiskendell
    "No matter how much I try to escape...I can't avoid it. I have no choice...I am forced to kill."

    Azumi is a pretty standard Asian action flick with a little drama mixed in. It's a better watch than most, though, because of several pretty emotional twists and turns that the story... read more takes. You come to care about several of the main characters, and the things that happen to them are handled in a way that makes them have an impact, without killing the momentum of what's an action movie at its heart.

    I can't comment on how carefully the plot sticks to that of the manga, as I haven't read it. Azumi is an orphaned girl raised with 9 other orphans by a master swordsman. He plans to one day unleash them as assassins to kill the various warlords that are responsible for the devastating, re-occurring wars throughout Japan. As the designated day for the plan grows closer, Azumi and her companions face one final, brutal test, and then go out into a world that is far more complicated than the secluded environment they were raised in.

    The fanciful and stylized fight choreography isn't the best that I've seen, but it more than suffices. There are times that the warriors standing around in the battle scenes waiting their "turn" are hard to ignore, but that's a pretty minor complaint.

    There are some pretty cool and memorable moments, as well. The battles are frequent and entertaining, and the levels of bloody carnage are noticeable, without being overly gratuitous.

    There isn't any definite thing I can point to as the main reason why I liked Azumi so much. It's true that it's another of countless similar sword-fighting movies set in ancient Japan, but it's well-made and enjoyable. If you'd like a satisfying action flick with a very pretty girl as the lead and a few genuinely sad moments, this is a good movie to try.
  • skactopus
    May 31, 2010
    skactopus
    Azumi. Ryuhei Kitamura is in the director's chair. The beautiful Aya Ueto is a samurai assassin. So this should be one fantastic movie right? For the most part, yes.

    There is enough going on in the story to fill the entire 2 hour 15 minute run time, although there is

    ... read more room to shorten this picture as it does drag a little. The final 10 minutes are also a bit of a mess. There are bits and pieces of wacky humor and characters to take away from the realism, especially with the villains, but overall there is still a serious tone to the film.

    There is an abundant amount of action and while most of it is run of the mill samurai swordplay, there is some style to it, along with buckets of blood. The choreography is enjoyable and Kitamura throws in some of his distinctive camera work and effects.

    Aya Ueto successfully pulls off a samurai assassin. This is a huge plus. Jo Odagiri is also something as the Bijomaru character.

    As a whole, Azumi does amuse. Take it for what it is worth and enjoy.
  • EightThirty
    August 17, 2009
    EightThirty
    ...U HAVE 2 WATCH THIS... (^_^)
  • matertenebraum
    August 4, 2009
    matertenebraum
    Since Kill Bill 1 I never saw such a wonderful sword choreography. But it wasn't just for the honour, the pride and the respect that I feel for the Asian samurai culture that I liked this movie, it was the plot. A very interesting plot that really caught my attention. The movie t... read moreells us the story of a young girl called Azumi. While still a little girl, Azumi's mom died in an accident, so together with 9 other kids, she was adopted and raised by a retired samurai.

    The 10 children were raised as samurais, learning all the secrets of mastering a sword so they could complete a secret mission that their "father" never wanted to tell them. But now, the 10 kids have become teenagers, its time to reveal the mission: Destroy all the powerful feudal people that could create gigantic wars, just to obtain a little power. So thats when Azumi and the guys found out: They were NOT being raised as samurais, they were being raised as murderers. Will they do the mission? Are they ready for the mission? They'll have to past a test, a horrifying test to see which of them are ready and which of them are not. If they pass the test, they have two targets to kill. The first one will be a piece of cake, the second one won't be that easy...

    "Azumi" movie is based on a manga by the same name. I never had the chance to read the manga, but I really recommend this movie. A movie where murderers are not cold-hearted serial killers. They are just teenagers, feeling guilty by every step they take and by every person they kill. Just normal teens trying to accept (and avoid) their destinies.
  • creepfreak
    January 6, 2009
    creepfreak
    Azumi and Versus is why I'm so excited to see The Midnight Meat Train. This director, Ryuhei Kitamura, has a niche for creating some kick ass style in all his movies. Azumi is loaded with tons of cool, well choreographed action. Lots of interesting(and funny) characters. Plenty o... read moref drama, lots of humor, and much stylized violence with blood spraying all over the place. This movie is great. And the final battle scene, I must say, is unbelievably breathtaking. It literally sent chills down my spine. This girl kicked some major fu**ing ass!

    Azumi was originally given an NC-17 rating, and although it is pretty violent, I believe the NC-17 rating was given for a rape scene that was later cut out. The blood here does flow, but it's not like it's in your face every 5 seconds. I also believe that The Midnight Meat Train is Ryuhei Kitamura's first American made movie. I just hope it's as good as some other pervious horror reviewers make it out to be. I hear The Midnight Meat Train is suppose to be insanely crazy and twisted. Can't wait to see it!

    Anyways, I highly recommend Azumi! Get your hands on this movie as soon as you could.

  • thefog1331
    January 6, 2009
    thefog1331
    Considering this came from Ryuhai Kitamura, director of Versus, I was quite disappointed by the lack of gore and style. It has a few sporadic moments of both (loved the revolving camera gag) but this Shogun-style action film is pretty routine.
  • DragonEyeMorrison
    February 3, 2008
    DragonEyeMorrison
    Still a mixed bag from Kitamura, some nice fights here and there but anime cliches 101 prevent the already flat story, or the characters, to get interesting. Not even Aya Ueto's cuteness save this from being a merely week-end filler, not a cult jewel by any chance.
  • sanjurosamurai
    March 31, 2007
    sanjurosamurai
    this movie is hard to describe. its like xena and hercules meets elektra meets shogun assassin meets pirates of the caribean with the soundtrack from top gun. in the spirit of samurai films this is a terrible movie, but if you ignore the samurai element and just look at this as... read more an action flick its entertaining. the end got a little silly but it intrigued me enough to want to watch the sequel. some of the fighting was over the top but other fighting scenes were very good. there were a ton of wholes in this film but its watcheable on many levels.

View All Azumi Reviews

Critic Reviews

Andrea Gronvall
April 18, 2007
Andrea Gronvall, Chicago Reader

The tone is bleak and the comic-book violence relentless, but the wirework and Yuta Morokaji's stunt choreography are impressive. Full Review

Michael Wilmington
September 7, 2006
Michael Wilmington, Chicago Tribune

It's a zippy time-passer. Full Review

G. Allen Johnson
July 28, 2006
G. Allen Johnson, San Francisco Chronicle

Ryuhei Kitamura is 37, but he makes films like a 15-year-old fanboy. That is, he has no sense of story, his visual style is basically point-and-shoot, the boys are cool and rebellious and the girls ar... Full Review

Mark Olsen
July 27, 2006
Mark Olsen, Los Angeles Times

An uneven effort overall that when it is working has a strange, engaging energy that is often overturned by an uncertain staidness. Full Review

Frank Scheck
July 25, 2006
Frank Scheck, Hollywood Reporter

Though it contains some superbly staged and highly lavish action sequences...[the film] lacks the tautness of its heroine.

John Anderson
July 21, 2006
John Anderson, Newsday

Overdone and overlong, but its lunatic flavor -- check out Joe Odagiri's Tiny Tim as ninja sadist -- saves the day. Full Review

V.A. Musetto
July 21, 2006
V.A. Musetto, New York Post

Azumi (based on a 25-part manga series) has eye-popping battle sequences, but the story is superficial at best.

Elizabeth Weitzman
July 21, 2006
Elizabeth Weitzman, New York Daily News

Plot and character development are quickly sacrificed to over-the-top action, but with a miniskirted menace in the lead, it's safe to say that fans, at least, will love it. Full Review

Manohla Dargis
July 20, 2006
Manohla Dargis, New York Times

Adapted from the manga of the same title, this 2003 action flick tracks the blood-spurting adventures of its title character, a young female assassin who wields a lethally mean sword.

Michael Atkinson
July 20, 2006
Michael Atkinson, Village Voice

The world seen through the bloodshot eyes of Xbox zombies. Full Review

Critic ratings and reviews powered by RottenTomatoes.com

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