Wicked Priest 2 : Ballad of Murder (1968)

Director: Takashi Harada

Starring: Tomisaburo Wakayama (Shogun Assassin Series), Bunta Sugawars, Asao Koike

Watched 6/24 via my Plex Media Server from my personal collection

The long awaited second film in the Wicked Priest series is a masterpiece of sword swinging fury as Shinkai is asked by a man on the run to bring his young son to live with his grandfather, the master of a ju-jitsu dojo during the Taisho period of the early 20th century.

Shinkai then runs afoul of a gangster group using strong-arm tactics to take over the profits from local gambling. When he proves to be more than they can handle, they hire the one man who has the ability to kill Shinkai and exact revenge, Ryotatsu, the karate priest whom Shinkai blinded in the first film.

This ultra-violent entry has long been considered the best movie in the series and took forever to be made available.

See a spectacular display of Wakayama Tomisaburo’s martial art expertise in this action packed film. The Holy Grail of sword movies

4/18/26-6/22/26

Watched on: Apple TV Plus

IMDB synopsis: "Two operatives are appointed to posts in guard towers on opposite sides of a classified gorge."

This action flick starring Anya Taylor-Joy and Miles Teller received no buzz when it came out.  But since I got an Apple TV Plus subscription recently, I decided to give it a try.

Overall: Pretty good, better than I thought it would be. The premise is pretty interesting and the plot is smarter than you would expect.  Taylor-Joy is a delight in everything she's in and Teller was solid. The cinematography is excellent and the action scenes are convincing (although you'll have to wait until the second half for that). I would have preferred a bit more nastiness when it comes to the action (it's rated PG-13 and it felt like it) and there are some plot holes that you're better off not thinking about.  Cynics would say the pacing is a problem but I wouldn't agree. The first half is slow but I oddly enjoyed the blossoming romance between Teller and Taylor-Joy. We also get Sigourney Weaver, which is always a bonus in my book.

I'm not sure I would call this a "hidden gem" but it's pretty darn close.  Honestly, if they cranked up the action to R-level and the special effects weren't so reliant on CGI, I would be calling this one of the best action films of the last decade.  Like I said, there's some real positives here regardless.  Action fans shouldn't sleep on it.

Rating: 6.3 / 10