Popular reviews

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  Review by Matt! ★★★★½ 2

  I mean…holy shit.

  In part II of the Lone Wolf and Cub series, Ogami Itto, Master of the Dad Bod, says hold my beer to his first outing as the assassin-for-hire before proceeding to dial every available notch to 11, reaching new levels of batshit insanity and driving the Japanese film industry further into a fake blood drought.

  This movie’s bingo card includes:

  - A Guinness world record-setting *10 seconds* before the first bloodbath
  - A fight where a man is literally dismembered ear by nose by finger by limb by limb by limb
  - The most incredible feat of backwards running ever put to film
  - Gory Wolverine-like kills that Hugh Jackman could never
  - A sword called “Horse-Slayer”…

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  Review by SilentDawn ★★★★★ 5

  95

  Enjoyed the first film well enough but Baby Cart at the River Styx is such a dramatic improvement that I'm almost hesitant to continue the series. What stylization of both bloodshed and father/son tenderness. Pretty much continuous earth-shattering violence that also doesn't forget the contextual foundation of the poetic dynamic at its center. So many memorable images and sounds that I can't even begin to count. Just as enthralling in the moments of a young boy taking care of his father as when feet and ears are being sliced off.

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  Review by Mandrakegray ★★★★★ 9

  A masterclass of beautifully rendered widescreen blood-soaked mayhem, and a legitimate argument for greatest "genre film" of its decade.

  With unmatched stone-faced intensity, Tomisaburō Wakayama's ronin warrior Ogami Ittō challenges the great Toshiro Mifune's iconic screen contributions as filmdom's most awesome samurai. As his loyal 3-year-old (and master of the blade-jettisoning pram) Daigorō, Akihiro Tomikawa may be the most adorable toddler ever put on screen (certainly within a gore-fest such as this).

  Having only previously seen the bulk of this Toho Studios classic in its famous U.S. re-edit "Samurai Assassin", Japanese Director's Kenji Misumi's cinematic high-water mark is even better in its original cut and native language (though I did keep waiting for Daigorō's narration to kick in).

  In this,…

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  Review by Mike D'Angelo ★★★★

  76/100

  No idea what possessed Misumi for the duration of this particular shoot, but sandwiched between the comparatively lackluster Sword of Vengeance and Baby Cart to Hades (remarkably, all three films were made, or at least released, in 1972) is one of the most relentlessly bugfuck martial-arts movies ever made. Opens with a stern warning hissed by a guy whose head has just been cleaved nearly in two, and just gets more outlandish from there, in ways that are sometimes ultraviolent and sometimes just plain bizarre. One early "fight scene" involving a group of female ninjas—who we've already seen literally slice someone to pieces, with various body parts (ear, nose, fingers) landing splat on the floor—spends less time on the…

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  Review by Slig001 ★★★★½ 1

  The continuing adventures of Lone Wolf and Cub, picking up with the wandering Ronin and his infant son as they continue to slash their way through feudal Japan on the road to Hell. This sequel really ups the ante from the opener - benefitting from a more defined narrative and an increase in over the top bloodshed. An opening scene that sees our hero force his sword through one guys head and then stab another really sets the tone. Its all about the blood in this one - blood pouring through walls, raining down from trees, seeping through sand, blowing in the wind.....gory death is everywhere and director Kenji Misumi is sure to capture it at its most beautiful. The…

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  Review by {Todd} ★★★★

  "I've always wished to kill someone, just once, and create such a fine cut and to sing this tune." -Benma,

  So.... much.... blood....

  I love it. This series is really fun so far with part 2 surpassing 1 in gore and silliness, both of which are appreciated. I love seeing Lone Wolf bloody that group of woman assassins and the final showdown is the perfect blend of beautiful and campy.

  Good stuff.

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  Review by Sam ★★★★½ 2

  With the necessary exposition done away with in the first installment, Baby Cart at the River Styx is free to spend its runtime focusing on pure carnage, wild characters and some absolutely insane action set pieces

  Assassin Lone Wolf and Cub at your service

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  Review by More_Badass ★★★★★

  The best “holy crap, jumping right in” opening
  The best father-son bonding
  The best lady-ninjas-suffer-no-fools scene
  The best job-interview-interrupted-by-assassin
  The best hypnotic dance of death
  The best secret-carrot-knives ambush
  The best kid-causally-merks scene
  The best emergency-eject-dress escape
  The (second) best weaponized-baby-cart scene
  The best called-your-bluff scene
  The best badass-villain-introduction
  The best pre-battle one-liner
  The best slit-throat-elegy

  Just the best

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  Review by NECC_ ★★★★½

  Lone Wolf and Cub: Baby Cart at the River Styx is a perfect mix between Samurai violence and father and son sweetness. A great improvement from its predecessor with amazing cinematography and even better fight scenes, plus tons of blood to keep filling this pool of greatness.

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  Review by sakana1 ★★★★ 7

  One day, perhaps, I will have more informed things to say about these movies but, as it is, I just ... love them.

  I love how they look.
  I love how unhurried they are, and how still.
  I love how seriously they treat their subject.
  I love the frankness and lurid beauty of the violence.
  I love the foregrounding of the four elements, and how beautiful each one is in turn.
  (But particularly the water. I really, really love the water.)
  I love the relationship between father and son. I love how contently intertwined their lives are, and how deeply they believe in one another. I love their wordless bubble of understanding.  

  Also, if you tell me Daigoro wasn't at least part of the inspiration for Grogu, I will call you a liar.

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  Review by Will Menaker ★★★★ 1

  The little kid Daigorō in these movies is out of control cute. I can only hope all the slaughter and non stop ownage he witnesses walking The Demon Way in Hell with his father won't warp him as he grows up.

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  Review by Bob McCully ★★★★½ 18

  Arterial spray has never felt so elegant in the 2nd instalment of the Lone Wolf & Cub saga. The ongoing journey through spiritual hell for Itto, with his adorable son Daigoro along for the ride, as they walk through a never-ending existence of sliced foes. Red puddles in the sand, lobbed limbs and flayed appendages, it's like a splatter haiku.

  While the first film, Sword of Vengeance, did an excellent job setting up the lore and introducing us to a hypnotic brand of gory combat, it's in this sequel that elevation becomes the key motivation.
  Itto has been hired to assassinate a traitor while he is also still being pursued by the Yagyu clan, which leads to an array of soon-to-be…