Movie Review: Rurouni Kenshin

(the Samurai X movie, 2012)

Coolness expressed in anime-stylized form!
This movie just wreaks of awesomeness - in both its dark and funny moments.

I can't deny how much of a fan i am about 'Rurouni' or Samurai X - if you are more familiar with the English dubbed anime. It's one of the first anime that i loved and actually, the very first manga that i bought - and, this movie not only reminded me of the reasons why but roused the obsessed fanboy in me! I'm practically giggling with excitement just writing this review.

A. Story
The movie tells the story of a samurai Kenshin Himura, easily recognizable because of an “x” scar on his face – who sort of ‘wanders’ around Japan helping people. Rurou ni Kenshin, in Japanese means ‘wandering Kenshin’. However, in the past he was a notorious assassin known as ‘Hitokiri Battousai’ (where ‘Battousai’ is a name that was based from his particular style from drawing the sword from its sheath). It’s this dark past that he tries to escape and make amends with, trying to build and live a peaceful life. It becomes a constant struggle to protect the peace he is so longing to achieve with his skills and a curious reversed-edge sword. He fights, with the promise that his katana will not take anyone's life.
If you've seen the anime, the movie encompasses several episodes covering the Opium arc (and some things from the OVA). This made the movie quite lengthy at around 2 hours and more. However, you will not find any dull moment here.
The manga/anime, from which the movie genuinely adheres to (with minor adjustments), is such a beautiful and interesting story to begin with that there is just no question about how good or worthwhile it is. The story is just a perfect blend of history, heart and darkness without being too complicated nor cheesy.

B. Cast
Initially, i had some doubts about the choice of cast. I thought Kenshin was too 'metrosexual-ish', Kaoru was too pretty/girly, and Megumi was too young, things like that. However, this was like the Ironman of animes!
I've read the comics and seen the cartoons but when i first saw Robert Downey, Jr. in the trailers - i thought, really? Then during the movie - lo and behold i was thanking the stars that he got to play Ironman.
The actors in Rurouni just fits in well and played the characters the way they should – complete even with the idiosyncrasies that they have. I still wouldn’t say it was perfection – but it is the closest we can get without the movie looking like a Cosplay documentary.
Over the course of the movie, you would just fall in love with the characters. Takeru Sato just became Kenshin himself! Emi Takei (Kaoru) and Yu Aoi (Megumi) were both charming in their respective characters. Oh! and you would certainly love the antics of Munetaka Aoki as Sanosuke.

C. Setting and Imagery
This is a beautiful movie showcasing not only the culture and history of Japan but also scenic, rural views of the country. Everything from the main characters’ costumes to the backdrops and bystanders are visually rich and consistent. It has the elements of manga/anime that is almost picturesque at every turn. Then of course, there are the scenes that seemed to have jumped directly from the manga illustrations in full realism.

D. Special Effects and Action Scenes

This is a live-action movie that doesn’t try to be an anime.
While most anime-to-movie ventures i’ve seen tend to overdo things, Rurouni managed to find the perfect balance between anime-style of visualization and live motion’s realness. I really meant the ‘perfect balance’.
There was no scene, particularly fight scenes where Kenshin looked and moved too ‘cartoonish’ – everything seemed fluid and even realistic.
Of course, this is still a manga/anime-based movie so do expect the occasional (but not gory) blood splatter or high jumps and ninja-like movements. This time however, they all looked good. Kenshin has those stance, swift movements and poses that looked cool in the anime – that translated to the same level in this movie.
The sword fights are just freakingly cool. There where just perfect synchronization between the fast fluid movements and the slow-mo’s that enhances the actions scenes.

E. Soundtrack
It was quite a pleasant surprise that the background music was equally as great. So unlike most movies of this genre which employs conservative soundtrack to for focus and severity. Even the anime often makes use of the quite, serious tone. In this movie though, the sounds are just as flashy as the action scenes. From the very start, specially to the point where they showed the very minimalist title of the movie – you’d realize that the soundtrack is not ordinary. And indeed, throughout screen time, the music flawlessly heightens the emotions and sense of the story whether it be funny, dark or exciting.
For example, there is this constant, almost nagging comedic music whenever the main villain comes to the screen – making it quite funny and lively. It then shifts to an exciting and dynamic music during fights which would sometimes slow down and quite down to further enhance the final effect. The soundtrack alone prevents any boring moments from ever showing up in this movie.

Other Info:
Here in Singapore as of today, only two cinemas are showing this: the FilmGarde at Bugis Iluma and Kallang (available until Dec 19th, 2012). I have to warn you, though – it is usually sold out. Try the earlier or later schedules for good seats or book tickets online. 
For showtimes, check this: http://movies.insing.com/movie/rurouni-kenshin/id-5be40000 and this: http://www.filmgarde.com.sg/ 
And here is the imdb link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1979319/ 

Final Thoughts:
The Rurouni Kenshin movie (2012) is a no-ordinary live-action adaptation of the the highly popular anime/manga. It should now be the standard from which any other adaptation of the same kind be matched upon.
If you are a fan of the original source/s, or anime or even Japanese culture in general – this is a definite must see. YOU NEED TO SEE THIS.
For those others, you might still find some thing interesting and worth-watching but do consider that this is quite tied to Japanese culture and history expressed in Japanese-stylized way of visualization and storytelling – which is quite different (a bit alienated) from the western counterparts.