Excellent, smart action film.

Don't listen to the negative reviews

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.

Zatoichi at Large is the twenty-third entry in the Japanese franchise about the blind masseur, skilled swordsman and lowly yakuza with a strong moral compass whose words speak louder than his actions. It tells how Zatoichi meets a dying pregnant woman on the road who got attacked and robbed by an unknown assailant. Zatoichi helps her give birth to a baby boy but the mother dies in the process. With her last dying breath, she tells Zatoichi the name of the father. A child witnesses the woman's death, follows Zatoichi and occasionally throws rocks at him. Zatoichi travels to the father's hometown but only comes across his sister who reluctantly accepts to take care of the child with the help of an old family of eight children. Zatoichi decides to wait for her brother to arrive in town to bring him all the bad and good news. While he stays in town, Zatoichi witnesses how a rude boss suddenly arrives, pitilessly controls local businesses and brutally makes the local population suffer. Things get worse when the baby's father finally arrives and is told by the child who witnessed the mother's death that Zatoichi robbed and killed her. Zatoichi decides to stay to clear his name, find the mother's murderer and rid the town of its new boss.The twenty-third film is an average movie of the Zatoichi franchise. On the positive side, the film's atmosphere is quite gloomy from start to finish which makes for a entertaining, fluid and intense experience. The idea to show how Zatoichi seems to be doomed to be misunderstood as that his good actions are so often misinterpreted as bad ones adds a tragic note to the movie and makes the protagonist even more interesting. The side characters are intriguing enough to make the viewers care about them, especially the dead mother's family. The final fight sequence is quite impressive as Zatoichi is attacked with burning ladders and needs to use all his skills to survive.On the other side, the film's story is quite exchangeable. Zatoichi has already taken care of children of dying parents in Fight, Zatoichi, Fight as well as in Zatoichi Challenged. This movie's boss is also quite exchangeable and not a real threat for Zatoichi. The protagonists are overall much more developed than the stereotypical antagonists who remain shallow.In the end, Zatoichi at Large will please to the franchise's collectors and fans of old date. It's interesting while it lasts but a movie you won't remember for a very long time. On the positive side, the film's gloomy atmosphere, intriguing protagonists and the final fight sequence justify watching this film. On the negative side, the antagonists remain shallow and the plot is predictable. Those who aren't familiar with the franchise yet shouldn't start here but rather watch the two excellent predecessors. Zatoichi at Large is of an average quality but a small step back after the brilliant Zatoichi Goes to the Fire Festival and Zatoichi and the One-Armed Swordsman.

Like an earlier Zatoichi film, "Zatôichi kesshô-tabi", this one starts with a dying woman and a baby that Zatoichi is to take to its father. Following the death of the mother, the credits roll and a singer who perhaps is well-liked in Japan begins singing--and the high nasal voice was really, really annoying. Perhaps it's just my Western sensibilities, but the song was tough to take. I think the singing is from Japanese Noh (a type of play)--but I am far from knowledgeable about those sort of things.Once Ichi gets the baby to the proper town, he finds the child's aunt and gives it to her. Oddly, however, all along the route there a little boy has been following Zatoichi pelting him with rocks. When the father eventually comes to town and thanks the blind man for bringing the baby, the welcome is very short-lived. It seems that the brat who has been throwing stones at Zatoichi is the man's son--and he mistakenly thinks that Ichi killed his mother and stole her money (this WAS done but by a thief--not Ichi). However, when the father confronts Ichi, the blind man is not angry but agrees to help the family get the money--otherwise the aunt will be forced by the local boss into prostitution.This leads to the very, very typical confrontation with the local strongman--a guy who naturally at first has his men attack Ichi, then pretends to be friends and then, ultimately, has an all-out battle with the blind man. In the final battle, the death tally is appropriately high and there are no huge surprises. However, the local constable was an interesting character and did give the film a few surprises. Otherwise, it's all very typical and familiar. Nothing extraordinary but another formulaic Zatoichi film.

Katsu's quick-draw swordsmanship is in olympic form as per usual in Zatoichi films. But I found an exceptional amount of humor in this installment, namely from the stalking orphan who continually nails Ichi in the gourd with rocks because he mistakenly believes Ichi murdered his mother. Ichi's tender-hearted nature is in full display as he suckles a newborn and refuses to duel the orphan's father knowing what the inevitable conclusion would be. Also, the preview of comedy acts that are performed for the magistrate to qualify for entry into the festival are hilarious, most notably the monkey routine. One of my faves in my favorite samurai flick series...

Bloody good Zatoichi fun…this may very well be the best of the original 25 that I've seen! Zatoichi delivers a baby from a dying mother (and breastfeeds it too!), seeks out the father, and comes upon a town that is about to have a festival. When a gang moves in to collect their due from the performers (and force the baby's aunt into prostitution), Ichi springs into action to set things straight. The scene with Zatoichi slowly approaching the leader while on fire is just great. If you're a fan of Chambara Cinema, this one's definitely worth checking out. Hired Killer: "You're the best swordsman I've ever met." Zatoichi: "Nah…all I do is go apesh*t."