Certain events in film history become cultural touchstones of genres. Not necessarily because they are the first of their type, but perhaps the first of their type to strike a resonant, enduring chord with audiences, and in many cases, defined the structures for those that followed;
Most space sci fi draws some influence from 2001.
Most zombie films draw influence from Night of the living dead.
Most vampire films draw influence from Nosferatu.
Most mockumentaries draw influence from This is Spinal Tap.
And so on...
Samurai films have Seven Samurai.. and 13 Assassins isn't shy about it. The second half, which is essentially one long strategic battle, could have even been a remake. 13 Assassins is a remake of a 1960s film of the same name, which I haven't seen but I imagine will have taken even more influence visually from the Kurosawa classic from 9 years prior.
There were many minor similarities.. there was even an irreverent character who provided comic relief and got his way in to the Samurai team through luck and persistance but turns out to be a valuable character in the story, very, very much like Toshiro Mifune in Seven Samurai.
I really liked it alot, it had a sense of not taking itself totally seriously, which was nice. When I found it I saw it was directed by Takeshi Miike which peaked my interest, having seen and liked a few of his previous films. Audition was great and I really loved Ichi the killer. I wasn't convinced by Happiness of the Katakuri's (although there were moments of genius) but based on his previous form, 3 hits and one maybe isn't atall bad.
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