FANTASIA 2020 | One Take Gets In The Way Of A Great Premise In "Crazy Samurai Musashi"
3/12 ForReel Score | 1/5 Stars
One samurai. 400 enemies. One feature length take. On paper, this concept is incredible. The reality of the matter is a sequence like this is, to say the least, incredibly difficult to pull off. Crazy Samurai Musashi does in fact pull it off, but the result leaves much to be desired as the film pulls off the challenge but falls short on the “crazy” part of its title.
It’s a simple premise. Musashi must be killed at all costs. He’s lured into a trap where he’s surrounded by hundreds of mercenaries. This opening scene is full of tension and dramatic flare. He then says “let’s get this started”, and the single shot begins.
But from here, the cinematic grandeur diminishes for the next 77 minutes as the cinematography tries to practically accommodate one shot. Crazy Samurai Musashi plays out from this point on as an RPG video game with a combat character that’s limited on moves. Block. Head chop. Gut slash. Occasionally performed with two swords. The combat is so repetitive, I often found myself more interested in tracking odd things going on in the background of the scene.
Regardless of the content, coordinating a one-take shot of this scale is something to be admired. Very few films can pull off a feature length one-take that covers as much area as Crazy Samurai Musashi does. It’s a valiant effort, and there are some fantastic angles along the way that artfully use the looming sunset to the shot’s advantage.
But ultimately, while I don’t mind the 77 minute long one-take being framed in traditionally filmed sequences, Crazy Samurai Musashi does itself a disservice in this case. As the high production value of the opening and closing scenes conduct the story, it also demonstrates how much better the film could’ve been without the challenge of the one-take. The fighting is more intense. The dialog is more dramatic. The scenes are more engaging. The disparity between the one shot and the traditional filming is jarring, and I vastly preferred the 12 minutes of traditional filmmaking here.
While this production looked like fun for the cast and crew to make happen, Crazy Samurai Musashi is only fun - or even crazy for that matter - for very few very fleeting moments.
Acting and Casting - 0 | Visual Effects and Editing - | Story and Message - 0 | Entertainment Value - 1 | Music Score and Soundtrack - 1 | Reviewer's Preference - 0 | What does this mean?