“Sanjuro” from director Akira Kurosawa (“Ran”, “Tokyo Story”) is a sequel to “Yojimbo”. Both films are terrific samurai pictures but I have to point out that I enjoyed this one just a little bit more. This is a smart film that is all about outsmarting one’s adversaries.

An intelligent and skilful samurai (Toshirô Mifune “Hell In The Pacific”) decides to help a group of men battle against corrupt elements within their clan. They are unquestionably outnumbered but with the right tactics, they may just be able to defeat their opponents. With danger at every turn, one wrong move may lead to certain death.

Toshirô Mifune is a talented actor and I have enjoyed his performances in other Kurosawa films such as “Rashomon” and it’s great to see him reprise the role from “Yojimbo”. I think “Sanjuro” does a better job of showing just how smart the character is. Sometimes, it gets olds seeing heroes just dash in and save the day so the ronin in “Sanjuro” makes a rather refreshing protagonist. The other characters are good and some of them are actually pretty funny at times. I like how the villains are not just idiots that fall for the samurai’s tricks at every opportunity.

I have now seen several of Kurosawa’s films but this is the first one that I have watched that I would consider a masterpiece. He is clearly a great director and he clearly perfected the samurai genre. Samurai movies appeal to me because they play very much like the Japanese versions of Western films (another great genre). I would strongly urge that you watch both “Yojimbo” and “Sanjuro”. You may end up preferring the first one but for me, “Sanjuro” is the superior instalment. I cannot wait to see if Kurosawa has any more truly magnificent films in his library.