Movie Review: Last Samurai Standing

Hello everyone,

I finally jumped on the trend to watch this movie. Last week, while talking to my friend on the phone, he recommended Last Samurai Standing as the latest movie on Netflix I should watch. I stalled for a while to watch it because I was not ready to watch any new series or start something serious. I was still in my phase of watching some not-too-serious movies and murder mysteries until I finally caved in this weekend.

Last Samurai Standing is set in Japan in 1878. It focuses on the change in power from the samurai era and how the Japanese government is changing rapidly under the Meiji government. The way of the samurai and honour mean nothing anymore. There is the rapid adoption of guns, and now there is no need for the samurai sword.

Then comes the challenge, 292 falling samurai are enrobed in a samurai competition where they are given tags to be placed around their necks, and the task is the get more tags from other players while journeying to Tokyo. The last person to get to Tokyo with their tags still intact and with the desired amount of other players' tags gets to win the 100 billion yen prize money.

You get introduced to Shujiro, who I think is the lead character of the movie. He joins the kodoku, the tournament for the samurai, because of his family, which includes a died son and his wife, currently suffering from the cholera outbreak. Wholeheartedly, I can say the main reason why most of these samurai enrolled for this competition is for the money, as the land is in abject poverty mixed with a cholera outbreak.

Everybody is desperate for a means to survive, and those who have families are willing to do anything to assist their families. The emotions in the scene run deep, right from when I saw the young child who is a part of the competition. From the get-go, when the players were informed about the rules, it dawned on them that this was a do-or-die affair. Although there was a claim that they could back out now, before they were informed of the rules of the game but people were all glued to the money that was shown to them first to get them hooked.

When things became clear that to move forward in the game, you have to kill the next samurai. Now some wanted to live, but it was already too late; they were gunned down. In the game, Shijuro was a bit reluctant to draw out his sword because of the trauma he was still living through due to the war, where he became a manslayer. He killed for a living, and that is all he has known. It is hard to move past that.

I admire Shijuro for taking care of the child whom he made his full responsibility throughout the Kodoku. It becomes more interesting when they are faced with different challenges at different points, and there are all kinds of samurai, some who enjoy the killing and others who are there for the sole purpose of the person they are hunting. Things are hard, but it gets worse when they try to uncover the people behind the game.

The movie is more like a Squid Game for samurai with lots of fighting to survive, intense scenes and a twisted plot mixed with a good storyline. Nothing got me prepared for the unveiling at each point, especially when I did not see that coming. It was an intriguing watch for the weekend, I can tell you that for sure.

All Images gotten from IMDB

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_{I am @samostically, a chess player and writer. I love to share the experience I have gained from different battles over the 64 squares and the knowledgeable insights from books I have read. But most importantly, I am a Midnight Owl and I founded the community Midnight Letters.}

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Thanks For Reading!

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