Note to viewers: do not watch Rurouni Kenshin: Kyoto Inferno unless you have immediate access to Rurouni Kenshin: The Legend Ends.
Trust me on this.
Kyoto Inferno is only half of the story, and ends on the sort of cliffhanger that makes some people throw books across the room in frustration[1].
In terms of the story itself, Kyoto Inferno and The Legend Ends are essentially the 35 episodes of the anime’s Kyoto arc ruthlessly edited down to fit two movies. I estimate that this is about a 60% reduction in the running time[2].
Mind you the Kyoto arc of the anime probably needs that much editing. I do remember nearly dropping the series because half-opponent of the week is not my favourite thing in anime.
In this case the editing worked well. Between them Kyoto Inferno and The Legend Ends have a tight, well-paced, story that rarely lets up on the action, and delivers a suitably epic finale. Well, The Legend Ends delivers a suitably epic finale. 🙂
The action sequences are at least as well choreographed as the first film, and the cast continue to deliver solid performances.
Tekeru Satoh’s performance as Kenshin remains superb, and I shudder to think how hard he had to work for those action sequences.
I did like seeing Emi Takei as Kaoru get a few decent action sequences of her own, if not as spectacularly so as Takeru Satoh’s scenes.
There’s less room for humour in these films so Munetaka Aoki’s Sanosuke is a bit grittier, and a lot bloodier in these films, but still boisterous, rowdy, and a lot of fun to watch.
The other supporting characters – Megumi, Yahiko, Saito, Aoshi, Misao, etc – are well represented and handled within the story.
The Rurouni Kenshin trilogy is a solid anime to live action adaptation series, if you liked the first one you’ll love how the Kyoto arc is handled here.
Just make sure you have The Legend Ends handy before you watch Kyoto Inferno.
[1] I’ve never actually done that, but I understand wanting to do so.
[2] Assuming 20 minutes of “story” per episode once you cut the OP/ED gives 700 minutes. The two movies have a total run time of 274 minutes.
Pirates of the Burley Griffin 
I never did manage to get into the anime series (though the OVAs are pretty good, and a different sort of adaption entirely), but I do quite like these live-action films. Well, okay, I loved the first one. The second and third felt like a definite step down, but I enjoyed them for what they were anyway – even with that annoying, none-too-graceful cliffhanger.
There was always a dichotomy in Rurouni Kenshin between the goofy Kenshin and the ruthlessly focussed Battosai. The TV series tended to centre on the goofy Kenshin, whilst showing him shifting to the Battosai when needed.
The OAVs were a horse of an entirely different colour centered on the Battosai and why he needed to seek redemption in the first place.
It wouldn’t surprise me at all to find people who love the TV series, but can’t handle the OAVs at all (or vice versa as in your case).
As far as the second and third films go, I think you’re right in that they’re not as good as the first film but they’re a vast improvement over the equivalent sequence in the anime.
I do think that the first film captured that dichotomy between goofy and battosai much better, and Sanosuke was a lot funnier as well in the first film.
Very much agreed on the cliffhanger: it’s why it’s the first thing I warn people about in the review. 🙂
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