Total Film by James Mottram

Stunning fights and creepy CG come wrapped inside a blade-sharp story, as the swordsman vows to hunt the killers of a young girl’s parents. Truly epic.

IGN by William Bibbiani

Takashi Miike’s blood-splattered and emotionally ripping Blade of the Immortal is a terrific samurai thriller.

Village Voice by Simon Abrams

Come for the gory swordplay, stay for the half-serious melodrama.

The Guardian by Jordan Hoffman

If you are going to see one outlandish and occasionally nauseating bloodbath samurai pic this year, this is the one.

Empire by Chris Hewitt (1)

Stylish, soaked in gore, and unconventional, it’s another winner from Miike. Here’s to the next hundred. At his current rate, that should be in 2025.

The Telegraph by Tim Robey

Blade is arguably too much of a good thing. But hey, that’s immortality for you.

Time Out by Phil de Semlyen

The story isn’t wildly original – think ‘Leon’ with throwing stars – and it’s overlong, but the action is unrelenting, thrillingly staged and occasionally even flat-out hilarious.

Uproxx by Keith Phipps

Blade of the Immortal raises some compelling questions: What does it mean to be virtuous in a world that doesn’t value virtue? Is there any way to shuffle off the burden of past sins? When does immortality become a curse?

Austin Chronicle by Richard Whittaker

He even slips in a moment that will make fans of his transgressive masterpiece "Ichi the Killer" squeal with nauseated delight.

Philadelphia Daily News by Gary Thompson

The movie also runs 2 hours, 20 minutes, which is a lot of dead samurai. The violence is often numbing, and the translations — the movie is subtitled — are sometimes as deadly as the swordsmanship. On the other hand, Blade of the Immortal is flat-out gorgeous. Widescreen, lush, beautiful.

Slant Magazine by Chuck Bowen

Takashi Miike's film is a work of robust genre craftsmanship that's informed with a sly sense of self-interrogation.

Screen Daily by Lee Marshall

Miike is on fine form, never losing his sense of humour, or sense of character, even as yet another axe is embedded in yet another skull.

The New York Times by Jeannette Catsoulis

Though not nearly as mindful or meaty as Mr. Miike’s 2011 triumph, 13 Assassins, “Blade” is creatively gory fun.

Variety by Maggie Lee

The story’s supernatural elements enable Miike to take huge liberties with chanbara, the oldest genre in Japanese cinema, and break free from rigid traditions of choreographing swordplay sequences.

Screen International by Lee Marshall

Miike is on fine form, never losing his sense of humour, or sense of character, even as yet another axe is embedded in yet another skull.

The Hollywood Reporter by Harry Windsor

Miike’s facility for the sharply sketched portrait, in between bouts of bladed mayhem, remains as shrewd as ever.

IndieWire by Ben Croll

For all the great action and idiosyncratic antagonists (Erika Toda, as a brutally efficient warrior who can’t stomach violence is a particular standout) Blade of the Immortal is altogether too much.

The Seattle Times by Soren Andersen

Blade of the Immortal is a pretty good title for a samurai movie. I’ve got a better one: “10,000 Corpses.”