Saturday, April 5, 2014

47 Ronin

Actors:  Keanu Reeves, Hiroyuki Sanada, Rinko Kikuchi, Kou Shibasaki, Jin Akanishi

Rating:  8 out of 10, 47 Ronin was billed as a Keanu Reeves vehicle but is so much more.  He’s really just a supporting character and seemingly added to appeal to the Western audience.  This is apparently a very old and honored story from Japan about samurai who were treacherously betrayed and fought back to restore their honor. There’s some heavy CGI work here with some obvious literary license taken; unless there were eight eyed, elephant sized beasts in feudal Japan along with witches who could transform into dragons.  The detail and pageantry of ancient Japan is breathtaking and the battle scenes are among the best ever made.  The problem is trying to shoe horn in a love story (with Keanu of course) which slows the pace down when it shouldn’t.  My wife hated the ending but it is line with the warrior ethos (bushido) of the samurai, so appropriate, if a little heart rending (literally).
MVP:  Sanada  as the honorable Kuranosuke Oishi, leader of the ronin

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