Still roaming the countryside of Feudal Japan with his young son Daigoro (Akihiro Tomikawa), Itto is eventually hired by a clan that has perfected a formula for indigo-colored dye, which nets them a small fortune each and every year. It seems that one of their members plans to sell the clan’s formula to the Shogun, so they pay Itto to make sure this traitor never gets a chance to do so.
Along with trying to complete his mission, Itto must also continue his fight against the Yagyu clan, which has recruited Sayaka (Kayo Matsuo), leader of the Akari Yagyu, to finish him off once and for all. But are Sayaka and her highly-trained female assassins up to the challenge?
Having already given us Ogami Itto’s backstory in Sword of Vengeance, director Kenji Misumi hits the ground running in Baby Cart at the River Styx and never once lets up, providing wall-to-wall action and plenty of bloodshed (aside from the opening, Itto and his trusty sword polish off damn near everyone the Yagyu clan throws his way, and usually in brutal fashion). Misumi also brings plenty of style and flair to the movie, with close-ups galore and frantically-paced showdowns that feel as if they were lifted straight out of a Sergio Leone western.
As he was in Sword of Vengeance, Wakayama is superb as Ogami Itto, speaking even less this time around but only because he lets his sword do the talking for him; his battles in this entry are among the finest in the series. In addition to its more intense scenes, Baby Cart at the River Styx boasts several dramatically effective sequences. At one-point, young Daigoro must care for his wounded father, and a scene in which Itto, Daigoro and Sayaka try to keep from freezing to death (after escaping a burning ship) takes the story in a new and unexpected direction.
I’m a fan of the entire Lone Wolf and Cub series, but when it comes to balls-out action and severed limbs flying through the air, it’s hard to top what transpires in Baby Cart at the River Styx. It is, hands-down, my favorite of them all.
Rating: 10 out of 10
Itto’s already-crumbling world is further turned upside-down when Yagyu assassins, intent on killing the disgraced Samurai, break into his home and murder his wife Asami (Keiko Fujita), leaving Itto as the sole caretaker for his infant son Daigoro (Akihiro Tomikawa).
Vowing revenge against those who destroyed his family and his reputation, Itto travels the land as a Ronin (a masterless Samurai), pushing a wooden baby cart and offering his unique “services” to the highest bidders, all the while fending off a steady stream of killers sent by the Yagyu clan to destroy him.
As played by Wakayama, Ogami Itto is a total badass, a deadly swordsman who never smiles and rarely speaks. He has the bearing and the skills of a superhero, and 1972’s Swords of Vengeance serves as his origin story. Combining flashbacks with the first leg of his journey through Feudal Japan, Swords of Vengeance brings us up to speed, showing Itto’s initial role as the Shogun’s executioner (in the very first scene, he must behead a child whose family offended his master); his eventual downfall and the murder of his wife; and his showdown with the Yagyu family (in one of the film’s coolest scenes, he agrees to face off against the Yagyu’s best swordsman, rushing into battle with Daigoro strapped to his back).
Topping all, however, is the extended sequence in which Itto and Daigoro visit a Hot Spring, situated in a village that has been taken over by a band of escaped criminals. Itto was hired by a Chamberlain to foil an assassination plot (the conspirators have enlisted the escapees to assassinate the Chamberlain), and with no knowledge of Itto’s background or his true identity, the criminals confiscate his Dotanuki sword the moment he arrives and lock he and Daigoro in a room with other travelers, one of whom is a prostitute (Tomoko Mayama). Throughout this entire ordeal, we the audience know it’s only a matter of time before Itto makes his move. We actually laugh as the criminals insult him, and cannot wait for the moment Itto finally strikes back.
Despite its copious amount of blood - which gushes from open wounds like a geyser - Swords of Vengeance is also a beautifully shot film (especially striking is a scene involving a suspended bridge, which Itto and son must cross to get to the Hot Spring), with each and every battle staged as if it were a ballet (the showdown with the Yagyu swordsman is especially breathtaking).
All this, plus the introduction of one of the most intriguing, most hardened anti-heroes ever to grace the big screen (Itto’s code of honor has led him to believe that, by breaking his oath to his Shogun, he will spend eternity in hell, making him doubly dangerous: a skilled swordsman who feels he has absolutely nothing more to lose!) make Swords of Vengeance a must-see motion picture.
Watch Ogami Itto’s exploits in Swords of Vengeance and I guarantee you’ll be chomping at the bit to check out the rest of the series!
Rating: 9.5 out of 10