47 Ronin

Starring: Keanu Reeves, Hiroyuki Sanada, Ko Shibasaki, Tadanobu Asano, Min Tanaka, Jin Akanishi
Directed by: Carl Rinsch
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Action, Adventure, Fantasy
2013

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: A band of master-less Samurai seek vengeance on the man who murdered their master.

Review:

Tim: 47 Ronin is a film that I really wish I could have liked. In general, I think Keanu Reeves is an underrated actor and I've missed his presence in big movies. This film was a chance for him to showcase his talent and remind moviegoers of how good he can be (He's Neo, after all). Unfortunately, this film never got off the launchpad. It's a weak, generic movie and it's completely forgettable. That is a real shame.

I like the basic premise behind the film. Not nearly enough films are set in Asia and I'm always interested in seeing films about samurai/ronin. However, the story and the events of this movie were so bland that any coolness that might have been inherent is completely wasted. There were dozens of opportunities throughout the film to do something spectacular, and none of them were seized. I hate to harp on first time directors, but this film feels like the work of someone vastly under qualified to bring something of this scope to the screen. It's not surprisingly that director Carl Rinsch was making his feature film directorial debut here. This movie was too big and too complex for someone of his skill level. The movie got away from him and it suffers greatly as a result. I hate to be too mean, but Rinsch deserves a great deal of blame for this film's failure.

One of the other big flaws was the poor CGI. This is a movie that asked audiences to suspend disbelief and travel to a very strange place. That can work, but your special effects have to back up the request- they have to transport you to a fantasy realm and make you believe it's real. The special effects in this film looked cheap and crummy. I never felt transported anywhere- all the crazy creatures and effects were a constant reminder that this movie needed a bigger budget and a better special effects team. That really took me out of the story.

The cast is fine. As I said, I like Keanu Reeves, although I didn't care much for his performance here. The script didn't do him any favors. In a good movie, Reeves' shortcomings are easy to overlook. In a bad movie, they are just magnified. That's exactly what happens here. The rest of the cast is decent- no one was particularly bad, but no one really shined, either. The cast as a whole was a bit 'meh' for me, but it wasn't worse than anything else in the film.

I know I'm being pretty critical of 47 Ronin. The movie might not be terrible, but it's not nearly good enough to hold our attention for almost two hours. I was bored for long stretches and frustrated through others. I wanted to like this movie, but the film worked extremely hard to make sure I didn't. This is yet another generic, forgettable movie that does too much wrong. This is a flawed film that should be skipped.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 5.5



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: The Last Samurai