47 RONIN

The idea of heroes going up against impossible odds has been a popular staple of fiction and legend for centuries. In the case of the 47 Ronin the story has the extra appeal of being true, or at least based on true events. Unfortunately, somewhere along the line of this story being given the Hollywood treatment, someone decided that what it really needed was big special (and noisy) effects and a famous Western face - they were wrong. What the supernatural elements and CGI effects actually do is turn what might have been a powerful dramatic story into a below-average fantasy. The presence of Keanu Reeves does nothing but make a rather insulting implication that a Western audience could not get behind a Japanese protagonist. Hence a story with so much potential is, instead bland, and uninteresting. Two things which save the film from being a complete disaster are the performances - which it has to be said - are far better from the Japanese performers. Hiroyuki Sanada is particularly good as Oishi the Samurai leader and, quite frankly, should have been the main character. Just to be clear it’s not that Reeves gives a bad performance he’s just been cast needlessly in a story where his character has no purpose in the narrative. The second thing which stops this being a complete train wreck is the finale which, for all the tedium that comes before it, manages at least to provide a well- put together set piece. These action scenes are, I might add, the ones without any CGI monsters or magic - just well directed swordplay. FINAL VERDICT 5/10 could have been a great cross-cultural telling of an inspiring tale but opted instead for mediocrity