Azumi

2003

2h 8m

Action

List

47%

32 Reviews

Tomatometer

81%

10,000+ Ratings

Audience Score

In 19th-century Japan a master swordsman turns a girl named Azumi (Aya Ueto) and a group of other orphans into assassins whose mission is to eliminate hostile warlords. When one such warlord orders the destruction of the young assassins, his lackey liberates a fearsome killer named Bijomaru to accomplish the task. A grisly battle ensues as Azumi and her comrades fight for survival.

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Critics Consensus

This adaptation of the popular manga series offers exquisitely choreographed violence -- and little else.

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Audience Member

Impressive (and violent) battle scenes are the highlight of this longish Japanese samurai tale.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

02/27/23

Full Review

troy k

Pretty much horrible all around, including the horribly choreographed violence, but the story kept me interested enough to watch the whole thing...only to be disappointed by the ending.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

Audience Member

"AZUMI, THE FEMALE ASSASSIN VOLUME 1" - 'Azumi' is a 2003 Japanese action film based on the popular manga-series with the same name and directed by Ryuhei Kitamura (Versus, The Midnight Meat Train). The intriguing plot about a female assassin is filled with highly violent action sequences between amazing cartoonish characters. To me it has a real Kill Bill feeling to it. I absolutely enjoyed this over-the-top movie and its sequel. With Aya Ueto as the heroine Azumi. 128 minutes of bloody entertainment! Orphan girl Azumi (Ueto) is raised along with nine boys by Jiji, a old master samurai. They are trained to become assassins. One day the ten students are put to the ultimate test: after being paired up, they need to kill their best friend. Azumi kills her love-intrest Nachi. Only the five survivors can join Jiji on his quest to kill three warlords: Nagamasa Asano, Kiyomasa Kato and Masayuki Sanada. The first target, Nagamasa Asano, is easily found and killed. But on hearing that Asano was assassinated, the next target, Kiyomasa Kato takes measures to keep himself safe. Azumi and her 5 male companions will have to deal with three roguish brothers, the narcissist killer Bijamouru Mogami, the monkey-like soldier Saru and an army of mercenary thugs before getting to warlord Kato and his general Kabei. Outnumbered their mission seems impossible. Will they succeed?

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

02/18/23

Full Review

Audience Member

At once visually shocking and thrilling. Azumi engages us on the same amoral level that Dexter does. While you may cringe at the copious amounts of blood, you will cheer Azumi on until it satisfying end.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

01/31/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Rawr! Right in my childhood! I never get tired watching this a bazillion times when I was little because I love Azumi and she is just so very cool!

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

01/24/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Kitamura has brought back the swordfighting epic almost all by himself. Might disappoint people who were expecting another Versus, but I dug it.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

01/29/23

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Ryûhei Kitamura

Director

Aya Ueto

Azumi

Shun Oguri

Nachi

Hiroki Narimiya

Ukiha

Shinji Suzuki

Awa

Yasutaka Sano

Yura

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Andrea Gronvall

Chicago Reader

The tone is bleak and the comic-book violence relentless, but the wirework and Yuta Morokaji's stunt choreography are impressive.

Apr 18, 2007

Full Review

Michael Wilmington

Chicago Tribune

It's a zippy time-passer.

Rated: 2.5/4

Sep 7, 2006

Full Review

G. Allen Johnson

San Francisco Chronicle

Ryuhei Kitamura is 37, but he makes films like a 15-year-old fanboy. That is, he has no sense of story, his visual style is basically point-and-shoot, the boys are cool and rebellious and the girls are cute.

Rated: 2/4

Jul 28, 2006

Full Review

Film4 Staff

Film4

An extraordinary film.

Jul 14, 2010

Full Review

Felix Vasquez Jr.

Cinema Crazed

Kitamura's visual power thankfully never drowns out the story's.

Apr 29, 2009

Full Review

Urban Cinefile Critics

Urban Cinefile

Well, this particular fantasy surely lost its novelty value a while back, and frankly never did much for me anyhow.

Oct 18, 2008

Full Review

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Synopsis

In 19th-century Japan a master swordsman turns a girl named Azumi (Aya Ueto) and a group of other orphans into assassins whose mission is to eliminate hostile warlords. When one such warlord orders the destruction of the young assassins, his lackey liberates a fearsome killer named Bijomaru to accomplish the task. A grisly battle ensues as Azumi and her comrades fight for survival.

Director: Ryûhei Kitamura
Screenwriter: Isao Kiriyama, Rikiya Muzushima
Production Co: Toho Company Ltd.
Genre: Action
Original Language: Japanese
Rerelease Date (Theaters): Jul 21, 2006
Release Date (DVD): Nov 28, 2006
Runtime: 2h 8m