i have to totally disagree with the other comment concern this movie . the visual effect complement the supernatural theme of the movie and do not detract from the plot furthermore i love how this move be unlike crouch tiger because this time the sword action have no string attach and most of the time you can see the action up close . i think western audience will be very confused with 2 scene one of which involve a monk try to burn himself alive and the other concern the villager chant that it be the end of the world . the mentioned scene be derive from certain interpretation of mahayana buddhist text ( mahayana buddhism can be find in china and korea and japan ) and the other scene deal with a quirk in the japanese calendar . people back then really think that the world would come to an end . gojoe have the action and story and visuals to mesmerize any viewer . i strongly believe that with some skillful edit it can be sell in the u. s. my one complaint be in the last fight scene ( i can not give anything away sorry ) .