The beautiful, elegant swordfights are filmed clearly and poetically, and even the down-time between battles doesn't drag too badly.
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08/15/03
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The Princess Blade (2003)
58
%
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Reviews Counted:26
Fresh:15
Rotten:11
Average Rating:6/10
Consensus: The action is fast and tightly choreographed, but The Princess Blade never draws its disparate elements into a compelling movie.
Theatrical Release:Aug 8, 2003 Limited
Synopsis: Model and rising pop star Yumiko Shaku stars as Princess Yuki in this thrilling Japanese martial arts actioner based on comic-book characters created by Kazuo Koike and Kazuo Kamimura. Yuki is the... [More]
Starring: Yumiko Shaku, Hideaki Ito, Shiro Sano, Yoichi Numata
Director: Shinsuke Sato
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Reviews for The Princess Blade
Sato seems to be trying to make several different movies at once, and none of them comes through strongly enough to carry the film.
09/25/03
An indescribably cool post-apocalyptic martial arts fairy tale.
07/06/03
It has stylish fighting, but the story doesn't live up to the talent of the fight choreographer.
09/19/03
[Yumiko Shaku] doesn't project the confidence or menace that the role requires. Trying to pass her off as a stone-cold assassin is like casting Britney Spears as Marie Curie -- it just doesn't jibe.
09/20/03
Top CriticEngrossing during its frequent action scenes, but stodgy and uninspired the rest of the time.
07/19/03
Despite its origins, nearly every visual and storytelling idea in this green-and-black-tinted martial-arts fantasy seems to derive from Mad Max, The Matrix and/or The Lord of the Rings.
08/07/03
The fight choreography of Donnie Yen is truly a pulse pounding ballet of whirling swordplay.
06/24/03
Original and thrilling martial-arts choreography, a lean, hard-driving story and solemn atmosphere make The Princess Blade -- a futuristic tale -- stand way above the pack.
08/07/03
Top CriticThe cast, in its quiet, iconic way, is superb.
08/22/03
Top CriticNot quite good enough to jump out of the pack of Asian swordplay movies but is too well crafted to sink into utter anonymity.
08/07/03
Top CriticThe Princess Blade boasts some of the most dazzling fight choreography in recent memory.
08/08/03
A stylish Japanese effort adapted from a popular manga that blends the thematic substance of a Toho Samurai epic with the quicksilver visceral assault of a Shaw Brothers Wuxia swordsman saga.
08/08/03
Adventurous viewers will find this unusual genre hybrid an intriguing experience.
08/07/03
the film's opening action sequence is the first of several that are likely to have you thumbing the backscan button because they look so damn cool (and are so damn fast).
02/21/04
A brooding atmosphere -- which is critic-speak for 'everybody wears black, and the whole thing was lighted with a single 40-watt bulb' -- permeates this dystopian thriller.
09/19/03
Its corny streak brings the movie too close to cut-rate Chinese Opera epics than should be allowed.
08/22/03
Top CriticThe Princess Blade would have been better off forgetting the love story and concentrating on the kick-ass action.
08/08/03
Top CriticYuki's streamlined revenge story (the furious, elegant choreography is by HK maestro Donnie Yen) has in its modest dimensions a surprising grace.
08/05/03
Top CriticHas many things going for it, but coherence and pacing are not among them.
08/06/03
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