Pretty Good

Great Film overall

Excellent but underrated film

This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.

I reckon you'll have at least seen the two movies before this one. So I don't consider it spoiling talking about things that happened before this movies events. Like the fact, that our main character swore to not kill anymore. Something difficult to hold up, especially if you consider how many people are out to get him.After that cliffhanger from the previous movie, we do get an introduction to that character we saw at the end. And it's a pivotal character to say the least. Since I'm not aware of the Manga or Anime made before this, I can't compare anything. I do know that the dynamic of the movie works nicely. Also the action scenes are really well choreographed (like the previous one). It might be a bit too long with its running time, but it's still very entertaining

How to end a good trilogy? By making a great and awesome third movie of course! Rurouni Kenshin The Legend Ends is great. Shishio, again, is our villain in this one but it also has a new character Hiko Seijuro which is Kenshin's master. This movie probably has more action than the first two which makes it more awesome! There was this one part in the movie where Kenshin was washed up on the shore then his master picked him up. Right after Kenshin woke up, he asked his master for a training. Kinda like Star Wars Episode V where Yoda trains Luke. The characters of Yoda and Hiko share some similarities. Like they were former fighters and or they both don't intervene with our protagonist's battle. Very interesting if you think about it. Before I conclude, my favorite part of the movie would be the final battle.In conclusion, Rurouni Kenshin The Legend Ends is awesome. A good ending and a good trilogy!

*SPOILERS AHEAD*Firstly, I grew up with the original manga series. It was one of the first tastes of Japanese media I ever had and, 10+ years later, it is still a series I hold very closely to my heart. When I heard a Japanese live action was being released, I had my doubts. Still, I was excited to see a real life Kenshin on the big screen. The first movie I could excuse many of the missing plot pieces, I found it far to reminiscent and enjoyable. The second movie...well, my worst fears for this mini-movie series started to come true. Here we are at the final installation and all I could do was say, "ARG" and compliment it with a deep, highly disappointed, sigh. If you haven't read the original manga, or watched the Rurouni Kenshin TV series, I can see where folks might think this was a pretty fun romp through a period piece world. Who cares that character development and common sense went out the window! There was flashy sword fights and explosions. YEAH! Unfortunately for a die hard fan, the well choreographed sword play and cast just wasn't enough to save it. Here are my gripes and likes for this film:First, what I liked: -Takeru Satoh as Kenshin Himura was, hands down, the PERFECT choice. -Though repetitive and poorly placed at times, the music was fun. -All of the sets and places our characters visit really felt natural and well done. -Let's face it, the flashy sword fighting was superb. Very big thumbs up on the choreography. -The Shishio fight was a tad over dramatic, but it was the one point in this movie that I found kept me on the edge of my seat. Plus, key elements of the original story were where they needed to be. -Seta Sojiro was one of my favorite villains, I'm glad he got the screen time he did. Although, I *really* wish they had done away with the screen time of the other Juppongatana (who barely made any worthwhile appearances, anyways) for more depth to be allowed to his character. -Saito Hajime, in my opinion, finally got the bad ass screen play he needed. I was afraid for his character, after the whole chandelier fiasco... -Hiko Seijuro, well cast and well played. I especially enjoyed the flash backs that added a little more depth to both Kenshin and Seijuro. -Megumi Takani, in my book, to be the next best portrayed character. What I disliked: -Lack of character development in far too many characters. -What did they do to Kaoru's character? These movies made her into the stereotypical weak little girl she fights so hard in the original story to *not* be portrayed as. Kidnapped twice. Comatose. Heck, I was waiting for her to get amnesia or something else totally out there. -Yahiko? Who's that? Oh, he was that little kid that showed up every now and then... -Sanosuke. I realize in the manga he had goofy moments (they all did) but they turned him into an underplayed comic relief. Who uses the same fighting moves over and over and over again each fight. It gets old. His was another character I thoroughly enjoyed getting to know in the comic. -Aoshi, need I say more? His story was flimsy and, quite honestly, unnecessary by the third movie. They either should have left his character's story in tact (could've easily been done), or left him out period. -Poor Seta Sojiro. His entire backstory was whittled down to one nonsensical line read off by the monk Anji. As far as the movie goes, his mental break down (if that's what you could call what happened) made him look ridiculous. I didn't feel anything for this fight. Sure, you could argue his "weak vs. strong" mantra was appropriate, but coming out with no build up or reason left this scene lacking. Terribly. -The Purgatory. Maybe they left the ship in there to act as a better "final stage", I could live with that. But taking it from Kyoto, which held very dark memories for the former assassin Kenshin, and moving it to Tokyo? Why? To what point? The ship never lived to sail out of Kyoto, originally. If anything, it should have stayed in Kyoto. And don't even get me started on the sudden blind eye Shishio turned to the police who were building a defense within visible distance of his ship. That whole relationship with Shishio and the police was ludicrous. -Shishio's fighting style. They didn't really explain why his sword kept bursting into flame. -Kenshin's scar. They explained what happened to give him one side to it (via repetitive scenes that really didn't need to be shown 4-5 times), but never delved into how he came to get the cross shape. Maybe this is a subtle hint of a fourth, and final, film? One could argue the origin of the scar doesn't surface until far later in the original series...Those were my biggest pet peeves. Considering they left plot holes and unfinished story, I'd say they've made room for at least one more film. What I would like to see is a mini-series (TV or otherwise) to tell the origin story of the Hitokiri. For those out there who are curious, you can watch the OVA called "Samurai X". It's only 4 episodes. I recommend either watching the complete "Rurouni Kenshin" TV series or reading the original comic, in addition to Samurai X. These shed a much needed light on characters and succeed at telling a masterful samurai story.

Rurouni Kenshin: The Legend Ends (aka Rurouni Kenshin: Densetsu no Saigo-hen) corrects two mistakes committed in the first half of this two-part conclusion to the Kenshin story: Exposition has been dropped to zilch, and instead of a series of tension-free one-vs-all rumbles, every fight is a one-on-one nail-biter.That said, between all the engaging fights, the film falls into the Dragonball abyss of story stagnation. Makoto Shishio (Tatsuya Fujiwara) has assembled an army—and a massive ironclad battleship bursting with cannons—to overthrow the Meiji government. The only thing standing in his way is a bunch of screenwriters who've realized, "Oops, he's won—better make him arbitrarily change his mind or the movie's over." Enter the Pause Zone, where the formerly brutal assassin decides to hold off his attack until the titular Kenshin (Takeru Sato) is caught and executed by the authorities in Tokyo. Never mind that Kenshin was last sighted off the coast of Kyoto and might well be dead—it's time for everyone to sit around and wait. And wait. And wait.Kaoru Kamiya's (Emi Takei) entire contribution to the film is to be asleep and then wake up. Sanosuke Sagara (Munetaka Aoki) is relegated to watching Kaoru be asleep and then wake up. His only contribution comes in the last act, at which point he essentially rehashes his big semifinal fight from the first Kenshin movie in 2012. It's fun, but it's not much of a payoff when you've seen it before.Kenshin spends much of the film on the Japanese version of Dagobah with his master, Hiko Seijuro (an effective Masaharu Fukuyama), in an effort to up his game after being defeated by Shishio and Sojiro Seta (Ryunosuke Kamiki) in the last film. The extended, artfully choreographed stick-vs-sword pummeling opens up some well-earned character development—as well as a few wounds—and could have formed a strong core to the story if the filmmakers had been able to restrict themselves to a single central character.Sadly, none of the other characters gets to develop so much as a hangnail. Shishio's myrmidons, the Ten Swords (Juppon Gatana), are each given a single line of motivational justification narrated by a fist-fighting monk, and few get to express anything beyond fashion sense. Sojiro suffers most: the breadth and implication of Kenshin's anti-killing philosophy have been so thinly established—and Sojiro's background so hazily sketched—that their final conflict, while a thrillingly tight sword-and-grapple affair, has no emotional stake, and Sojiro's subsequent breakdown lacks context or justification. And woe be to those who question the purpose of any of the action: Aside from Kenshin's meeting with his master, the entire trip from Tokyo to Kyoto is revealed to have been entirely unnecessary, as the finale takes place back in Tokyo anyway, and the entire cast could have just waited at home. Aoshi Shinomori (Yusuke Iseya) could have been written out of the script entirely. His fight with Kenshin is poignant, but only serves as a speed bump on the way to a conclusion that has been sitting static since the opening act.Most unforgivably for a film that has tried to be gritty and political, the setup for the finale is simply preposterous. In the previous film, Shishio had such superior intelligence capabilities that he was not only able to assassinate a government official in transit, but also make it look like the work of another group. In this film, he is somehow completely oblivious to the weeks-long construction of half a dozen cannons on an exposed hilltop within sight of his ship—which inexplicably sits stationary in open sight the entire time. Blackmailed into action, the Meiji government announces a public execution for the captured Kenshin (the capture is delightful, but the sudden appearance of fifty cops is about as believable as Charlie Chaplin). The execution is to be held not in a secure location, but on the beach alongside Shishio's ship. Considering that it's revealed that the government is (spoilers!) planning to betray Shishio—a plan that will surely result in the shelling of the beach—why invite the public to an impending war zone? And if the government's entire purpose in executing Kenshin is to save face, why then allow the public to see that it's clearly Shishio's men, and not the government, who are in control? We're not finished yet: When all hell breaks loose, a longboat full of cops immediately rows right up to the broadside of the battle cruiser—over open water, in broad daylight—without dodging so much as a shot. Much hay is made of the government's pusillanimity in firing on the battleship while the protagonists are still aboard, but the deck doesn't so much as wobble for ten minutes at a time when the heroes have a score to settle. Does the artillery crew just go to lunch? And why doesn't the ship just sail out of range? For that matter, why does Shishio's sword make fire? And where does Sadojima Hoji (Ryosuke Miura) go after taking that punch to the face? Is anyone keeping track? Suspension of disbelief is one thing; you can't just toss the established rules of a movie world out the window and expect the audience to blithely go along for the ride.And then, at the height of all this logic-free lunacy, something incredible happens, and even Aoshi's otherwise pointless existence is excused. The final ten minutes of The Legend Ends represent the most innovative and inclusive four-on-one fight to ever to grace the silver screen. An expanding cast of psychos, heroes and hellraisers piles on not one after another in clichéd action fashion, but in fully choreographed five-directional fury, with every fighter bringing his own style and character to the game. The sequence is simultaneously brutal, gripping and hilarious—exhilarating and mind-blowing. It's almost enough to make us forget all the sins committed on the way.Almost. Just don't ponder how Kenshin got the other half of his scar.