The sequel of the first samurai movie has a lots of action but some unsolved plot twists. The main character, having finally found peace, he is summoned back into the world of killing in order to preserve that peace. Honestly, the girl who always gets disappointed over the non killing thing was annoying, but other than that, she wasn't in the film much. The action sword scenes were really good and the whole thing was once again a big production when it came to settings, costumes and special effects. The performances were good as well. But, my only concern was that everything seemed to just pave the way towards the third movie. So, 8 out of 10.

The film lacks in every field. SPOILER! The script is worthless: Kenshin sucks and loses to the villain. Kenshin meets his master and wants to learn the masters secret technique. His master tells him that the will to live is the key to becoming a good swordsman. Kenshin becomes a lot better at fighting because if this. Sounds quirky? It is. We find out the that the villain can only fight a couple of minutes due to previous injuries. Kenshin fights villain for more then a couple of minutes and the villain dies.The directing is really sad. Every character is allowed to have one feeling. Angry, sad, no feelings, humorous, screams for no reason and so on. You can figure out which feeling that goes to with character really quick. No character really changes in any way more than that Kenshin getting to know the unknown secret that makes him a "better" swordsman.I can go on and on but lets just summarize it with one sentence: see the anime series instead!

It is interesting that westerners (of which this reviewer is one) have no trouble reviewing Asian anime but (being truthful here) get a little lost when reviewing a live action film adapted from anime.I am not sure why this is, but perhaps a PhD candidate might investigate if he or she has the time? In the west, there is no problem going from animation to live action; indeed, in most cases the live action precedes the animation.In Japan however the transition is often awkward. Keeping in mind that the Japanese ALREADY have a very stylized and unique POV in their live action films (especially the older ones) then forcing the director to start with anime material only makes the end result more ... bizarre.The point is that, even if you are FANBOY for Kenshin Himura and his many adventures (yes, I confess I am) the film still feels slightly awkward by western standards.It is way overlong, and, as in the anime, it combines elements of extreme violence and extreme silliness which mix like oil and water. (Consider the performance of the actor playing Sonoske, who, in the anime, actually has some dignity. Here he is a buffoon.) Did I mention it is overlong? Kenshin does not actually touch a sword until 45:00 in to this 2:15 spectacular, To the western moviegoer, that is a long time. (I suspect it is to Asian moviegoers as well).That said, it is an improvement over the first feature-length live action Kenshin movie in the trilogy, the pace feels less forced, and every effort is made to make the baddie seem like he escaped from a Bond film. Which helps maintain interest.I realize the above is hardly a sterling endorsement. If you are fan of the character, it is worth the watch, regardless of the above comments.However, don't expect closure. There is a third instalment to the series aptly named "The Legend Ends" and no doubt a proper review will require including that as well...

Rurouni Kenshin is composed of three films. The first film is complete in itself and others consist one story. The final film has shown since 13 September but I have not watched it yet. I'm very looking forward to it. This film is based on a manga which is popular but I have never read because I don't like historical stories. However, once that I watched the first one on TV, I have been captivated by it. First of all, casts are really good. They are very famous in Japan especially the main actor, Takeru Sato, is popular with young people because he is good at acting. In addition, I love Tatsuya Fujiwara because he is really cool. Unfortunately, his face is mostly covered with a bandage so I'm shocked.Second, I don't feel an old-fashioned atmosphere so much. I think this is because of the young actors and actresses and action scenes. My image of period films is that many people fight and a screen is overcrowded. However, this scene is fewer and one to one fight is focused which is like a hero animation.Finally, I think the structure is not good. The first one is OK but others are too long to watch. When I watched this second one, I was getting tired of it in the middle and I could sometimes expect what happen next so I hope the final film is good structure and good climax.