11 Rebels (2024) – Review

Quick Thoughts:

• Grade – B
• Between Seven Samurai, 13 Assassins, The 13th Warrior, 11 Rebels, The Dirty Dozen, Magnificent Seven, Eastern Condors, and 300, I love it when a small group of tough people are pitted against a much larger force. 
• Originally written by late screenwriter Kasahara Kazuo (and forgotten about for decades), 11 Rebels is a fun throwback action film.
• There’s a lot of plot.
• The production design is wonderful
• Favorite line – “Is that idiot still alive?”

Directed by Kazuya Shiraishi (The Blood of Wolves, Bushido), 11 Rebels is a fun throwback action film that combines political intrigue with at least 14 moments of limb loss. Based on a 60-year-old screenplay by late screenwriter Kasahara Kazuo (Battles Without Honor and Humanity), the film holds on to his realistically bleak outlook but still delivers a bloody good time. 

The lead rebel/criminal/bandit/idiot (depending on who is asked) is a guy named Masa (Yamada Takayuki – who also stars in the 13 Assassins), who is sentenced to death after he kills the Shibata samurai who raped his wife. Before his head is sawed off (in a fun scene involving a frog and a large blade), news is delivered that the Shibata clan is willing to pardon criminals who will help protect a fort on the outskirts of their territory. The choice isn’t hard as the criminals can either be imprisoned with typhoid patients in the neighboring jail cells – or become part of a “suicide squad” with the possibility of not dying via typhoid (or having their heads sawed off). In a refreshing twist, Masa never stops despising the Shibata clan soldiers and has zero problem trying to escape even if it causes the death of the other rebels. There’s a healthy distrust of the Japanese ruling class and I like that the rebels aren’t fighting for their local lord, instead they are putting themselves in danger in hopes of being pardoned for their crimes. 

11 Rebels moves quickly and it only takes 15 minutes for the core group made up of Shibata samurai, a card shark, a serial killer, a lecherous priest, a handsome dude, an intellectually disabled young man (with a thing for fireworks), and other ne’er-do-well – to make it to the fort. Once there, they fortify the rundown stronghold and develop a defense plan while they await the incoming imperial soldiers. The fort’s location is important because it’s a key crossing point into Shibata territory that can be held with minimal troops since the only entrance is a rickety rope bridge that bottlenecks any fighting force attempting to attack the stronghold. 

From there, the audience is treated to several well-staged skirmishes that feature explosions, hacked-off limbs, bridge destruction, and a serial killer nicknamed “Cut-em-down” swinging his sword so hard that he snaps several steel words in half. The only drawback is there’s a lot of plot involving political angling, double-crosses, revenge, and everything else that took place during the Japanese Civil War of 1868-69 (AKA – The Boshin War). The biggest disadvantage of making a film like 11 Rebels is there are a lot of characters who need screen time, and when the multiple characters are competing with other plotlines – they don’t get the time they need to become three-dimensional characters. That being said, there’s a lot to like about 11 Rebels and it’s worth a watch if you love “few against many” films.