I've liked director Takashi Miike's last few films, 13 Assassins and Hara-Kiri: Death of a Samurai, but for his latest, he leaves the period samurai action behind. Shield of Straw is a contemporary action-thriller that I wouldn't be surprised if Hollywood tries to remake sooner rather than later. It's got a fun premise -- elite team of cops must protect murder suspect from a whole nation of people who want to kill him for a reward -- but it gets bogged down. My review is up at Screen International.
