Japanese fantasy Magic Serpent starts off in fine style with a benevolent lord being betrayed and killed by evil usurper Daijô Yûki (Bin Amatsu), aided by his wicked magician henchman Orochi-Maru (Ryûtarô Ôtomo). The murdered lord's young son, Ikazuchi-Maru, is ferried away on a boat, with Orochi-Maru in hot pursuit in the form of a giant dragon; in the nick of time, Ikazuchi-Maru is rescued by a magic bird sent by a friendly wizard.
The film also closes with some entertaining monster action, when Ikazuchi-Maru, now all grown up and trained in the ways of fighting and magic, returns to his father's castle to take revenge, hero and villain assuming the shapes of a giant horny toad and a dragon respectively to do battle. A massive spider also gets in on the action, blasting foam from its butt!
Unfortunately, almost everything sandwiched between these enjoyable kaiju bookends is rather uninspired chanbara action, with only the occasional appearance by ninjas to liven things up a bit (ninjas always improve a film). After Ikazuchi-Maru shows that he capable of losing his head in a fight (literally) but still carry on living, the fantasy stuff largely takes a back seat to the predictable revenge plot, plus the burgeoning romance between our hero and pretty Sunate (Tomoko Ogawa), who is searching for her long-lost father. All of the drama and family-friendly sword swinging tends to cause the film to drag on a bit (dragon a bit - see what I did there?) ; more of the crazy magic stuff in the middle and I think it would have flowed much better.
The film also closes with some entertaining monster action, when Ikazuchi-Maru, now all grown up and trained in the ways of fighting and magic, returns to his father's castle to take revenge, hero and villain assuming the shapes of a giant horny toad and a dragon respectively to do battle. A massive spider also gets in on the action, blasting foam from its butt!
Unfortunately, almost everything sandwiched between these enjoyable kaiju bookends is rather uninspired chanbara action, with only the occasional appearance by ninjas to liven things up a bit (ninjas always improve a film). After Ikazuchi-Maru shows that he capable of losing his head in a fight (literally) but still carry on living, the fantasy stuff largely takes a back seat to the predictable revenge plot, plus the burgeoning romance between our hero and pretty Sunate (Tomoko Ogawa), who is searching for her long-lost father. All of the drama and family-friendly sword swinging tends to cause the film to drag on a bit (dragon a bit - see what I did there?) ; more of the crazy magic stuff in the middle and I think it would have flowed much better.
