Toshiro Mifune swaggers and snarls to brilliant comic effect in Akira Kurosawa's tightly paced, beautifully composed Sanjuro. In this sly companion piece to Yojimbo, jaded samurai Sanjuro helps an idealistic group of young warriors weed out their clan's evil influences, and in the process turns their image of a "proper" samurai on its ear. Less brazen in tone than its predecessor but equally entertaining, this classic character's return is a masterpiece in its own right.
This is the sequel to Yojimbo, but they both act as a stand-alone, so you can watch this one if you haven't watched its prequel yet (although I highly
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recommend that one too). It's a classic take on the lone warrior who aims to help those in need just for the heck of it, but it's also an original take on unnecessary violence and outsmarting the enemy. The action scenes are brief, but thrilling, and the acting is top-notch. Of course from Toshimune as the nameless hero, but the other actors are equally brilliant. The storytelling is well done, and Kurosawa's masterful directing of immediately grabbing your attention and never letting go is on point. The only flaw might be a slight bit of over-exposure within dialogue, but this is a magnificent movie nonetheless. Many modern 'lone-hero' action movies have been inspired by this one, but I consider Sanjuro the OG of the lone warrior and none does it better than Kurosawa. It's only 97 minutes, so go and watch it already!
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