What’s it about? A Hollywoodisation (I thought I just made up a word, but someone on the internet has already taken credit) of an 18th-century Japanese “national” legend The Revenge of the 47 Ronin.
What did we think?
Casey says: Clearly aimed at an audience that doesn’t like too many words, can’t spell numbers and hasn’t stopped smoking pot since the release of Bill & Teds Excellent Adventure, Ted’s latest romp falls somewhat short of a well-crafted depiction of a compelling Japanese legend.
Flags, costumes, cherry blossoms, traditional architecture, awesome sword fights and cool flippy fabric things are all in this film’s favour. Keanu Reeves, random helpful demons, and awful dialog are not.
What’s it about?
Based on one of Japan’s most enduring and interesting stories, a collection of now master-less samurai (Ronin) seek revenge on the man who orchestrated their master’s death despite being forbidden to do so. Sounds cool? Yes, but then Keanu Reeves pointlessly plays a magical half-breed who does NOT feature in the history books in any way.
What did we think?
Anthony Sherratt says: A confused hodgepodge of concepts and ideas as stilted as the english of the Japanese actors. It’s a shame that such an interesting true story has been so badly butchered in such a thoughtless manner. Shoehorning a ‘white’ actor into the movie serves zero purpose outside of financial concerns and detracts from this tale of honourable revenge. Why have magic, untruths and Keanu when the original story is so sound? Quite simply, the interesting aspects of the tale have been buried beneath CGI and pointless addition. Boring to watch and painful to reflect upon.