Personally, I think it's BETTER than the first movie.
Added 8/7/2009
Azumi and Azumi 2 ... both masterpeices in the action/martial arts genre. I would have to say that the second one is the better of the two.
The first Azumi was awesome. I own it and I've seen it about five times. However, it was too long and, at times, unneccesarily drawn out. 30 minutes could have been cut from the movie without changing anything. Less is sometimes more. The story of the first movie was too thin to be drawn out over two hours. It didn't really have that thick of a plot... but then again, it is an action movie, and you don't typically watch those when you are expecting an awesome plot.
The second movie, however, was a bit shorter, not drawn out, moved much faster, and had a decent plot to go with it. The only thing that felt lacking was the absence of Bijomaru, the show-stealing psycho who was in the first film. Of course, he died, so he couldn't be in the sequel... but he had a LOT of fans.
The one big thing the movie did wrong is something that fans will have no issue with -- when you make a movie, you should NEVER have a supporting actress be more beautiful than the heroine. EVER. But Azumi 2 did it anyway, and Chiaki Kuriyama outshone Aya Ueto, the lead actress.
You thought Ueto was good looking in the first film? Then you gotta see Kuriyama in the second.
Another plus for this movie is that the villain had a measure of emotional depth to him. You actually feel sympathy for him in the end. Also, Kanbei is every bit as awesome in the sequel as he was in the original film. So look forward to that.
It's also worth mentioning that the English dub of Azumi 2 is far, far better than the Engish dub of the first movie.
To put it simply -- If you like a movie with insanely awesome action and long battles, you'll like the first film better. If you like not-as-insane-but-still-awesome action, a good plot, a respectable dub, plot-twists, and character developement, you'll like the second one better.
It all really depends on your tastes.
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you will be lost if you haven't seen the first movie but does do flashbacks
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The other size of Azumi
Added 4/2/2009
Azumi 2 emphasizes the other side of Azumi... not the assassin, but the girl as a human who can be vulnerable like everyone else. As such, the movie's main focus is not the blood and killings (although it still has plenty of them), but the personality of the main character. It shows her emotions and sadness as she deals with her past and the deaths of the people she cares about.
I love this movie because I learn everything about the character. To me, it's not just a mindless action flick. It actually has a story that complements the first movie.
So, if you're looking for pure action movie, you may not like this one as much as the first one. However, if you want to understand Azumi better, you will love it as much as I do.
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it is ok....
Added 1/17/2009
I do think they cut off the budget and used a lot of computer generated images. The gang's plot was just stupid. They could not even fight. Everyone got killed so easily. The spy girl's plot was good. The movie is very short. When the main story(not sidetrack) started, it already passed 3/5 of the movie. The spider fighting was great, but it was too much computer generated imaged. How can that guy push his face back up after getting sliced by fiber???!
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This was good, The FIRST was BETTER
Added 12/12/2008
Let's put it this way, when I watched the first AZUMI, I fell in love with it and watched it again a few days later. Then watched it a 3rd time in another few days.
I love Aya Ueto, the lead actress playing Azumi. I love all the other actors/actresses as well. (Even my home girl, veteran actress Reiko Takashima) but AZUMI 2 was a little bit of a let down. Don't get me wrong, it is in fact an entertaining movie. But it lost the "spark" of the first film. I recommend AZUMI 2 to fans of Asian cinema, Action films and Movie Buffs.
Can you live with out seeing Azumi 2? Yes, you can. But if you like the actors and actresses, and these types of films then it is at least worth checking out.
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