Almost as frustrating as it is good, because Kagemusha is close to being an all-time masterpiece that’s brought down by the randomly weak writing. Not enough attention is paid to the main character’s development, and many scenes are unimportant, dragged out, or both. If the latter flaw were traded for the former, this would be one of Akira Kurosawa‘s best. As it stands, it’s still close. Ropes you in to its own world and time.