BackFilm Review | 47 Ronin
Hollywood tries its hand at samurai
Premium
“Half-breed" Keanu Reeves, the lead swordsman of 47 Ronin, typifies the movie’s attempts to simultaneously conquer West and East by giving a Hollywood spin to samurai lore and casting English-speaking Japanese actors. Carl Rinsch’s debut ultimately belongs neither in this part of the world nor any other, for that matter.
Master director Kenji Mizoguchi, who made one of the best-known adaptations of the eighteenth-century legend in 1941, must be spinning somewhere in the upper realms at this travesty, featuring Reeves as half-English, half-Japanese foundling Kai, who is adopted by a feudal lord but always kept at length by his proudly nationalistic staff. Kai gets a chance to prove himself when a rival lord, played by the criminally wasted Tadanobu Asano, arrives to annex the kingdom via statecraft and witchcraft. Asano, who proved his dexterity with weapons in Ichi the Killer and Zatoichi, takes a backseat to Rinko Kikuchi’s shape-shifting witch, who is devious enough to have Kai’s master killed and his samurai banished, but not smart enough to sense that the master-less warriors (called ronin) have returned in the guise of entertainers to avenge their master. Eminently disposable, without even one decent sword fight to its name.
Unlock a world of Benefits! From insightful newsletters to real-time stock tracking, breaking news and a personalized newsfeed – it's all here, just a click away! Login Now!
