Rent Azumi (2003)

Great action, but tedious in places. - Azumi review by CP Customer

The plot of 'Azumi' revolves around a band of ten young assassins who since childhood have been trained to carry out a special mission, Azumi, the lone female of the group is considered the most skilled of them all. The young assassins await the day of their mission with growing anticipation, and finally learn that they have been trained to kill a shogun who is threatening to overthrow the ruling class of Japan. Overestimating their abilities, the assassins soon find they are not as skilled as they believed and soon find their numbers dwindling as they battle the shogun's warriors, Azumi then begins to doubt herself and starts to long for the life of a normal Japanese woman. Overall it's a film about good versus evil, with plenty of martial art style sword fights and buckets of gore, and while the blood spattered fights are entertaining at first, they soon grow a bit tiresome after the hundredth person is killed. It's not a bad film by any means, it's very entertaining, there are some great action sequences, the characters are unique and develop well throughout the course of the story, it's just that it gets a bit tedious in places. If you're a fan of Asian extreme cinema then 'Azumi' is well worth a look, otherwise it's probably worth giving a miss.