I'll generally watch anything with Sonny Chiba, but that doesn't mean I always like it.
Although the DVD cover claims Chiba "stars" in this film, he doesn't appear until 2/3 into the story. Instead, the plot revolves around Ayumi (played by Ayumi Kinoshita), the disciple of a monk (played by Yasuaki Kurata) who was part of a group of guardians who fought some big battle 40 years ago to prevent a demon from opening the portal between the realm of the living and the realm of the dead (Vengeful spirits = bad, status quo = good). 40 years later, as the demon sends his minion (yes, just one) to again attempt a breach of the seal, Ayumi is tasked with rounding up any surviving members of the original band of guardians to prevent the demon from succeeding. The problem is that most of them are dead and the monk has lost touch with the others. So they have to settle for their disciples--a rag tag band of Japanese teenagers plus a 'gaijin' of African-descent (whose portrayal in this film was just thoroughly racist) who need to be trained and molded into proper warriors before they can take on the demon and his minion (yup, same one).
Obviously, no one is watching this film for the complexity of the storyline. Sadly, the action is pretty uninspiring. The "massive battle" in beginning of the film involving the demon's minion and nearly 3 dozen monks should have been spectacular. Instead, it was so badly choreographed it came across as amateurish. The duel between Chiba and Kurata at the end is just about the only highlight of the film, but you have to sit through the entire movie to see it, and it's just not worth it (well, I guess you can fast forward to it, but then the battle wouldn't make much sense).
Although the DVD cover claims Chiba "stars" in this film, he doesn't appear until 2/3 into the story. Instead, the plot revolves around Ayumi (played by Ayumi Kinoshita), the disciple of a monk (played by Yasuaki Kurata) who was part of a group of guardians who fought some big battle 40 years ago to prevent a demon from opening the portal between the realm of the living and the realm of the dead (Vengeful spirits = bad, status quo = good). 40 years later, as the demon sends his minion (yes, just one) to again attempt a breach of the seal, Ayumi is tasked with rounding up any surviving members of the original band of guardians to prevent the demon from succeeding. The problem is that most of them are dead and the monk has lost touch with the others. So they have to settle for their disciples--a rag tag band of Japanese teenagers plus a 'gaijin' of African-descent (whose portrayal in this film was just thoroughly racist) who need to be trained and molded into proper warriors before they can take on the demon and his minion (yup, same one).
Obviously, no one is watching this film for the complexity of the storyline. Sadly, the action is pretty uninspiring. The "massive battle" in beginning of the film involving the demon's minion and nearly 3 dozen monks should have been spectacular. Instead, it was so badly choreographed it came across as amateurish. The duel between Chiba and Kurata at the end is just about the only highlight of the film, but you have to sit through the entire movie to see it, and it's just not worth it (well, I guess you can fast forward to it, but then the battle wouldn't make much sense).