Darren Carver-Balsiger’s review published on Letterboxd:
I saw this at Leeds International Film Festival 2017.
Advertised as Takashi Miike's 100th film, Blade of the Immortal is a fitting choice to complete his century. As perhaps the greatest vulgar auteurist in modern cinema, Miike has proven himself to be incredibly diverse but also incredibly committed to playing everything in a ridiculous and extreme manner. Blade of the Immortal is Miike playing to his strengths, allowing his lack of restraint to make the broad storytelling irrelevant and the action joyously excessive. It also doesn't indulge the side of Miike where so much illogic eventually just begins to feel like most of what's thrown hasn't stuck. Miike makes his randomness always seem controlled, and that's why Blade of the Immortal works. However dumb it gets, you always feel like that was the way it was meant to be and so you can just enjoy it for what it offers without worry of not understanding it. Not that it's ever really a problem, the storytelling in Blade of the Immortal is very competent and easy to follow (especially compared to Miike's other 2017 feature JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Diamond Is Unbreakable - Chapter 1).
The action in Blade of the Immortal is gloriously indulgent, with a seemingly uncountable body count as well as an endless supply of blood. It's properly gory and violent, which only makes it even more intense and shallowly enjoyable. Plus, the characters always conveniently turn up in the nick of time just to ratchet up the violence.
Speaking of characters, there's quite a lot and they frequently bob in and out of the narrative, often shifting allegiances. It does make the film a little confusing and also episodic, but at the same time it's just a convenient way to move from one action scene to the next. The real standout character though is the young girl who swears revenge on those who killed her father. She plays the most morally complex part of the tale, with naïveté leading her into many difficult scenarios that change how other characters are seen.
Overall, Blade of the Immortal is an awesomely fun movie. It's a proper bloodbath and beautifully over-the-top. Super cool cinema.
