Rurouni Kenshin: The Final

An action film adapted from a Japanese comic. Kenshin is a former assassin. He killed many people during the civil war, then stopped and began carrying a blade that does not cut; the promise never to kill again runs through the whole series. In this part Enishi comes against him. The man has prepared for years, has grown powerful through arms dealing, and arrives in Tokyo with a small army. The reason is personal. Enishi's sister is tied to the heaviest event in Kenshin's past, and he wants it accounted for. What the film is interested in is not fighting but punishment: Enishi's plan is not to kill Kenshin but to make him pay for what he did. The action is in the series' known style: fast, long, cut often. The fights take place in the street, on a train and in tight interiors. The narrative also goes back and completes the story of the scar on Kenshin's face. Takeru Satoh plays Kenshin, as he has from the start of the series. Mackenyu plays Enishi and Emi Takei is in the cast. Keishi Otomo directed. This film and its follow-up were shot back to back. Who it is for: anyone who likes swordfight sequences and long-running adaptation series. Who it is not for: anyone who does not know the series; the narrative leans on the earlier films and does not reintroduce its characters.