Film Review: Yamada - The Samurai of Ayothaya (Plus Trailer)

I get the impression that this was a split production from Thailand and Japan. Thai fighting arts and way of life comes off looking like the cooler way of life in this movie. Based on a real historical figure Yamada Nagamasa, a Japanese man who gained became the governor of Nakhon Si Thammarat province in southern Thailand. His story gets kungfu movie'd here.

This is a first time writer director and IMDB doesn't list any other credits. That being said the direction is alright. The movie is short, pretty simple. The highlights are all found in the fantastic fights. Yamada's fighting style starts off very Japanese, traditional Japanese style, things go south when he is betrayed by a group of ninjas. Once in the Thai village he keeps getting thumped until he combines his old style with hybrid thai-japanese style. Time for revenge you bet. It's a kungfu movie.

Thumbs up from me.