In recent years, legendary splatterfest director Takashi Miike has been taking a break from his usual blood-and-guts horror fare and has been experimenting with different genres. After his bizarre kids’ movie Yatterman, which was pretty damn entertaining, it looks like he’s now trying his hand at the samurai genre with 13 Assassins. And wow, does it ever look good. Miike has clearly done his homework, as the film looks nothing short of spectacular (to me, anyway). The production design looks great, there’s a heapin’ helping of sword-swinging, it doesn’t overdo it with the explosions, and just about every character looks like a total badass. It’s been quite some time since a samurai film of this caliber has come along, and the fact that Miike is behind it just makes me even more excited.
13 Assassins comes out April 29, 2011.