Movie Review: Hissatsu (Sure Death)
A group of seemingly ordinary Edo citizens, mostly of the merchant class, are in fact a loose team of assassins. But fear not, they’re good guy assassins who only take money to kill people who really deserve it. Problem! There’s a new assassin in town, who’s exclusively targeting the local professional killers. Can our anti-heroes discover the secret of Copper (so named because of the coins he leaves on his victims) and defend themselves against his small army?
Hissatsu is based on a 1970s television show about the same characters, and it shows. Most of the characters never get a proper introduction to the audience, and their many quirks and relationships go mostly unexplained.
The character that gets the most focus is Mondo Nakamura, a policeman who carries a wooden sword on duty (but not when he’s killing people), has a nagging mother-in-law and we are led to believe he has a small penis. His downtrodden, bumbling daytime persona sharply contrasts with his professional killer side.
There’s also a guest star character, a puppeteer that kills with his paper fan. The final fight sequence takes place in the puppet theater, and this is used for maximum stylism in the battles.
There are some striking set pieces, a couple of amusing bit characters and the fights are good. The dialogue is more groan-inducing, particularly a flirtation between Mondo and Copper’s female accomplice.
Warnings: One of the minor bad guys abuses a woman and a cat. A fair amount of blood, but tastefully done by samurai movie standards. Brief toplessness.
I found it streaming on the Crunchyroll website–it may also be available elsewhere. If you like good guy assassins and don’t mind a nonsensical plot, it’s a funny movie.
