A Review of “Rurouni Kenshin: The Final (2021)“

 

Rurouni Kenshin: The Final is the 4th entry in the franchise, but not the final entry despite its name. I was genuinely surprised when they announced they would be making 2 more in the franchise and it would be the final ones. I was very stoked about it as I love the franchise as they are one of the few live-action manga movies that deliver. The premise is “In 1879, Kenshin and his allies face their strongest enemy yet: his former brother-in-law Enishi Yukishiro and his minions, who have vowed to take their revenge”. So does Rurouni Kenshin: The Final stick the landing or should it have just remained a trilogy?

Firstly, Rurouni Kenshin: The Final continues to deliver on the authentic and beautiful set design with sumptuous costuming. Naoki Sato also returns to score the movie with him bringing a more sombre theme for both Kenshin and the main antagonist that is very effective. The cinematography by Takuro Ishizaka is visually stunning at times with some shots that perfectly capture the emotions of the scene. The amazing choreographed action set pieces return here with the glorious wirework and it is still awesome to watch. Despite it being 6 years since the previous entry, the actors are still great in their role including the new cast members, although Yahiko was recast because the previous actor is no longer a kid. Everything I loved from the previous entries in the franchise is still here and I am glad about that.

This entry does do something different with the story and that is by making it more personal for Himura Kenshin. We can see this by the antagonist, Enishi Yukishiro, being his brother in law who wants revenge. Enishi is a fantastic villain and while he doesn’t top the previous villain Makoto Shishio in the cool and fearsome factor, he is a lot more interesting. He is not some over the top cartoony bad guy who wants power, glory or chaos but wants Kenshin to pay for his sins.  Enishi does terrible things in the movie but he is still very sympathetic as his motives are understandable and we see how damaged mentally Enishi is. Due to Enishi vengeance, we also see Kenshin at his lowest point as he realizes that this is all because of him. We see him truly questioning himself on whether he deserves his happiness and how he should atone. It’s a great conclusive story for Kenshin that perfectly wraps his arc and leads to a satisfying end for the franchise.

Unfortunately, since it is primarily focused on Kenshin and Enishi, the supporting characters don’t get much characterization. Kaoru remains as a damsel in distress but with a weaker romance story than Kenshin has with Tomoe in the next entry. Sano who has always been a punching bag but gets an awesome fight by the end is just a punching bag in this entry with no awesome fight. Yahiko talks about being stronger and braver but never does anything. Megumi is just kind of there. There are also some other returning supporting characters but they are mostly there to show that Kenshin has friends worth fighting for and to have some cool fights.

There are also some pacing issues I had with this film as during the second act the pacing drops significantly. The second act contains no action scenes and is mostly dedicated to characters being sad or exposition and flashbacks. I do understand the importance of the exposition and flashbacks but it drags for too long. On that note, there are way too many flashbacks with a fair amount being unnecessary such as flashbacks to things that occurred minutes ago or events that happened in this movie that people watching didn’t forget. There is also a flashback that lasted over 5 minutes that spoiled the entire prequel, Rurouni Kenshin: The Beginning, which came out after this film. Additionally, I don’t get why this is not the final entry as it feels like watching Rurouni Kenshin: The Beginning, the actual final entry, first will make it easier to appreciate this film and could have allowed the director to avoid the overuse of exposition and flashbacks.

Overall, Rurouni Kenshin: The Final is a great send-off for the titular character. It wraps up the story satisfyingly with a more emotional story while still giving us the terrific fight scenes we all know and love. It does have some pacing issues and certain scenes can feel like it goes on for a little too long. However, I still loved it despite the flaws and was very happy that it stuck the landing. Just make sure to watch Rurouni Kenshin: The Beginning before this though and have Rurouni Kenshin: The Final as the last film you watch in the franchise; it is just more satisfying that way.