47 Ronin




A Keanu Reeves project that on one hand embraced the scope and look of an epic Samurai culture, but on the other hand is too solemn and sluggish to enjoy. I remember hearing little news stories how this particular project was plagued with problems.

Regardless 47 Ronin is a gorgeous film to look at. The sets and locations do bring some emotion with the subject matter… which by the way is simply, Kai (Keanu Reeves) is a half-breed and not accepted by anyone… except the Lord’s daughter. Anyway, a ruler from another land cunningly kills the Lord, takes over and banishes the Samurai… who then technically become Ronin (Samurai without a leader). The rest of the movie is gathering up the Ronin including Kai and seek revenge and take back the palace.

There’s elements of fantasy characters sprinkled throughout. Thankfully minimally or that would have turned me off completely. Mainly because this story is based on true events.

While this looked like hundreds of other Samurai films, I was hoping for the best on a good update to the story. It just moved too slow, with little action and very little payoff. It seemed longer than it actually ran.