47 RONIN is a tale inspired by the true story of how 47 ronin planned two years to avenge the death of their lord who died at the treachery of another lord in the age of the samurai in Japan.  It has been adapted before into movies and plays and now Universal Pictures has made their mark with their version which is a big budget experiment that didn’t fantasy creatures and CGI landscapes in addition to finding a weak excuse to explain why Keanu Reeves is supposed to be at the center of this revenge plot as a half breed named Kai.   Kai and 46 ronin put together a plot in short fashion after Kai is put into slavery and the lead Japanese ronin is thrown in a pit for a year after their lord commits seppuku due to the treachery laid by a witch who can shape shift into a white fox and a dragon while also being able to manipulate her hair to use chop sticks (and look damn evil sexy in green satin robes and messy bed head hair). 

 

I enjoyed 47 RONIN to an extent even though I realize it has to be one of the most awesome bad big budget movies of the year while writing this review.  Did they really need fantasy elements to tell the tale of 47 RONIN?  No.  Did they need to spend $175 million to $225 million to make this CGI overspend of awesome bad movie?  No.   Should they have worked Keanu Reeves better into the plot instead of the standard we think he is a demon that the samurai think is bad luck until we really need him to avenge the death of our lord by assassinating evil Lord Kira?  No.   Did Rinko Kinkuchi look really sexy as the evil witch and seem to really enjoy it?  Yes, you bet her ass she did.   Should they have got a different director for this movie and scaled back on the massive budget before even filming it?  Yes.  Did they get Japanese culture and the code of the samurai correct?  Yes.  They even stay with the ending of the true tale.  Maybe they should have got the director of 13 ASSASSINS to direct it instead and you should check out the plot and execution of 13 ASSASSINS to see how the revenge plot by ronin plays out much better than 47 RONIN.   Instead you have an awesome bad movie with well executed fight scenes and some cool visual eye candy where they decided not to get a really great script for it.   Wait to rent it or buy it.  Skip the theater unless you want a movie to make fun of.  Better luck next time, Keanu.  Better luck with the next film, Universal Pictures.

 

This DVD review is (c)12-27-2013 David Blackwell and cannot be reprinted without permission. Send all comments to feedback@enterline-media.com

 

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