47 Ronin (2013)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 2013
	Director: Carl Rinsch
	Actors: Keanu Reeves (Speed, The Matrix 1-3), Hiroyuki Sanada (Sunshine, The Wolverine), Ko Shibasaki, Rinko Kikuchi (Pacific Rim)
	Country: USA
	Genre: Action, Fantasy
	Conditions of visioning: 26.03.2015, Blu-ray, Home cinema
Synopsis: After their Master is dishonored, his now Lordless samurais (=Ronin) vow to avenge him. They will be helped by the mysterious Kai (Reeves) who was found by the Master when he was a kid.
Review: You would think that an American Action movie around some part of Japanese culture and with Japanese cast would have been shot earlier. There has been the entertaining Ninja Assassin, and before that there was Rising Sun although it is not an Action movie. But what is interesting in 47 Ronin is that it could have been a Japanese movie. The only things not Japanese in this movie are Keanu Reeves, the director and the Hollywood way of telling the story. All the cast is somehow Japanese (except for a few Dutch during five minutes) but the language is English. Actually there have already been several Japanese cinema versions of this story in 1941, 1962, 1994. That old legend of the 47 Ronin is very well known in Japan, and often told as a model of loyalty, sacrifice and honor. In this version, some parts of the history have been modified (but there are doubts anyway about the truth behind the details of the story), and a Fantasy note added to justify the action. I liked this approach. It is nice to see Keanu Reeves doing Kung Fu moves 14 years after The Matrix and he fits well the role, maybe it was written for him. At the beginning it is disturbing to see special effects which are not fully photo-realist as we are used to see in modern productions. But the ambition of 47 Ronin is smaller, and the unnatural effects (often some beautiful colorful sets and landscapes) actually add to the Fantasy side. The weak part of the movie is in the story telling, which is not as well done as it could have been. Indeed it doesn't manage to get the audience immersed enough in the story that we really enjoy the last act.
Rating: 6 /10