I’m trying to remember which one of my friends recommended Hanzo the Razor: Sword of Justice. While I can understand his honorable intentions in introducing me to a new-to-me form of cult-driven film, he should have stressed that this is not a date movie. (Features like these are the reason I have a hard time getting my wife to watch movies with me.) After the first twenty minutes, we turned it off to watch something we could enjoy together.
Later the next day, I finished watching it. Why did I go back to something I found very uncomfortable? I’ve always have felt the need to watch a film all the way through; otherwise, I wouldn’t be able to make an honest appraisal. There would always be nagging questions, “Did it get any better?” and “Does the sixties jazz soundtrack, more-Shaft-than-Shogun, turn into something more traditional?” For my own piece of mind, and because by that point I wanted to draw a review, I finished watching, but let me assure you, it was no fun.
A few of you kind readers are also fans of manga and anime. Some of you might know that Hanzo the Razor was originally a manga created by the same hand that made Lone Wolf and Cub. Some of you might even know that in “Samurai Champloo,” the over-the-top policeman character named Mando was a parody of Hando. Still, I urge you not to seek out this film. And if you do, don’t watch it with your wife—or anyone else you ever want to look in the eye again.
