I've been meaning to check out "Beat" Takeshi Kitano's films for some time now. This is the film that gained him the most praise internationally so I figured it'd be a good place to start.

Zatoichi is essentially a remake of a long running Japenese series about a blind swordsman with a James Bond sense of humor who enjoys gambling while he's not kicking some ass. In Kitano's remake, Zatoichi (Kitano as "Beat" Takeshi)assists two geisha in their quest for revenge against the gangsters that murdered their family in addition to facing off against a formidable ronin (Tadanobu Asano, Ichi The Killer) who's skills nearly match his own.

Kitano's unique style is apparent almost immediately apparent at the start of the film. Zatoichi starts off with the swordsman brutally killing a group of gangsters who attempt to steal his sword. Kitano proves himself skilled at handling action scenes as he manages to ballance style with realism quite easily. Kitano later goes on to dabble in slapstick and witty humor ala James Bond. He continues to ballance action and humor perfectly throughout the film making for a very entertaining watch. The acting is great as well. Kitano plays Zatoichi with a good sense of humor, making him easily likeable and those who've seen Ichi The Killer know Asano is more than capable of portraying a sinister antagonist, although his character in Zatoichi is much more solemn and introverted. There are also some terrific scenes in which the actions on screen are executed in unison with the background music (e.g. the sounds of hammers, saws, and other tools used while men build a house play out the rhythem of the background toon). I suspect this is a Kitano trademark of sorts.

All in all, a very diverse but coherent film by Takeshi Kitano. The action scenes are fantastic to watch and the dry humor throughout makes for a nice contrast. Zatoichi is an overall excellent film recommended to fans of action, Asian cinema, and James Bond.

I agree..

Zatoichi is an excellent film, a perfect story. Told with occasional flashbacks, the action scenes are beautifully choreographed, photography is stunning as is the lighting, design, acting and musical score..

Like you said,  so eloquently James, this film also possesses a light humor thread to the proceedings and occasional sadness but it also told a tale of an unlikely hero.. Indeed, for my own part, I was reminded of Sergio Leone’s Fist Full Of Dollars and A Few Dollars More which in turn were themselves based upon Japanese stories of Samurai tales..

Well worth buying and having in your DVD collection..

I have it.. It’s a classic..

This is right up there with Takeshi's best films. The action scenes were terrific and the comedy relief worked well. I also thought the characters were very well developed; even the antagonist ronin had an honourable motive for his actions, which made for an all the more powerful climax when he faced off with the Blind Swordsman. The script was well paced, and the way jubilant villagers celebrated in the end was truly amazing.

It's no wonder this film won the Best Picture award at the Venice Film Festival.