Lobo Samurai 2

Highly enjoyable sequel to the excellent Samurai Wolf. "Furious Wolf" this time is caught in the intrigue between a crooked gold mine owner and a mysterious swordsman who resembles his long dead father. Once again there's a beautiful woman involved and lots of furious sword fights.

The Samurai Wolf films have a number of similarities to the Lone Wolf and Son series of the seventies and a bit of debt to the Zatoichi series. First, the eccentric sword work of Furious Wolf is very much in the vein of Zatoichi while not imitating it. Second, the geysers of blood that erupt from vanquished villains foretell the much more absurd blood-letting of Lone Wolf.

Once again the photography is excellent and the cast is as good. The story is a little convoluted and Furious Wolf is less in control of the situation compared to the first film. Also there are strong thematic repetitions that shouldn't have been so obvious. This is probably one of the reasons Samurai Wolf didn't continue as a series. The curious western tinged musical theme from the first film is repeated over and over for better or worse. Gosha's direction is less inspired this time but still great.

Recommended but see the first film before this.