LONE WOLF AND CUB (1972-1974)
As the kids say, this series goes hard.... hard, down life's Demon Cart to Hell.... Or something. (These are my collected reviews of all six films - the third film in the series, "Baby Cart to Hades," I actually saw out of sequence years before, which is why it reads a little differently than the rest): 1. SWORD OF VENGEANCE (1972) What to say? Inglorious betrayal; frame ups; copious, occasionally unhinged bloodshed; magnificently lenses close-ups of gnarly profiles; spare and bad-ass string-percussive musical accompaniment; dynamic comic-book inspired compositions and transitions (whats with that one shot shot in three sides, kind of image one can see in the Spider-Verse movies almost); an undeniably cute baby that gets his share of moments (and nipples!); and a Shogunate that knows a clan set him up and killed his wife, his path to stop at nothing to get back at the dastardly Yagyu clan always in sights despite the sidetracks (including their menacing white-haired glari...
