47 Ronin

Its an attempt to create that “300” like inspiring tale about of a group of warriors who fought for their leader. Based on the Japanese legend about the group of Samurai, this film couldn’t really create the depth of sacrifice in its two hour long narration that moved in a dull way. They have tried to include the fantasies of the story in the usual way but the script that moves swiftly in terms of time but gets stuck on individual moments, couldn’t create characters with backgrounds.

The plot is set in the 18th century of Japan. A group of Samurai warriors who were helped by an outcast Kai loses their leader in a foul play by another group leader Lord Kira. The two year long planning of the ronin (leaderless) to avenge their masters honor along with the help of the outcast Kai is the movie all about.

The movie kicks off nicely, explaining the backdrop and establishing the relationship of characters. But it approaches its conflict zone very quickly and doesn’t go for any event to show us the respect they have for their master. The particular sequence where the whole group goes into the mysterious forest and the way the character of Oishi was tested was the best sequence of the movie. The legend says the Ronin suffered a lot in their journey to finish Kira, but the film shows us very few making their path look less miserable.

Keanu Reeves can be considered as the hero as he is the odd one in the group. Equally important role is there for Hiroyuki Sanada who played the role of Oishi quite impressively. Rinko Kikuchi was also good in her negative character.

The direction style was okay. But the screenplay that gets stuck on individual events never really pushes the story forward and the melodrama they included surrounding Kai was too cheesy. No big fire there in dialogues. Good cinematography, impressive visual effects and catchy art direction are some mention-able technical positives of the movie.

47 Ronin is a technically good movie whose content just doesn’t have the fire we are looking for. My rating is 2.5/5 for this Samurai movie. One more movie with the same concept with more depth wont be a bad idea as the emotional side of the story is a catchy one.