A Japanese
legend with roots in reality, the tale of the 47 Ronin has been adapted into
just about every medium imaginable, from ballet to movies to graphic novels.
Now Keanu Reeves stars in "47 Ronin," an Americanized, or perhaps internationalized
version, of one of Japan's most treasured tales.
47 Ronin dates
back to 18th century Japan, about 47 samurai who seek revenge after the death
of their master. Among these samurai is a half blood named Kai (Keanu Reeves)
who is first looked down upon by the native warriors he associates with. After
their master is murdered by a visiting clan, the samurai and their group are
cast off their own land after a powerful Shogun appoints the rival group’s
leader to rule both clans. This doesn’t sit well with Kuranosuke Oishi
(Hiroyuki Sanada), who assembles his fellow samurai, now considered Ronin
(masterless samurai), and with the help of Kai, he hopes to restore honor to
his disgraced master’s name – even if the mission means certain death for him
and his warriors. Can honor be regained and order be restored over what used to
be Kuranosuke’s home?
Confusion –
that’s the most prominent emotion I experienced while watching 47 Ronin. Here
we are watching cinema based off of a Japanese tale centuries old, taking place
in the fabled samurai-filled times of early Japanese culture, yet all the characters
are speaking English? Authenticity plays a huge part in period pieces, but
hearing these “native” characters speak without subtitles gives the whole film
a lackluster remake vibe, only furthered by Keanu’s inclusion. I’m not saying
the actor puts forth an abysmal performance or anything, but he seems
incredibly out of place, more so than his character arc calls for. Moments
without Keanu feel like an entirely different movie – then he’d waltz back on
camera like he wandered onto the wrong movie set, mumble a few lines, and fight
some gigantic rainbow-colored beast – um, what?
Not to be
ignored are the terrible miscues that run rampant throughout Ronin 47, like the
staleness of ideas and horribly misguided comedic attempts. Which comedic
attempts, you ask? Why, just the usual exploiting of the one fat character’s
weight for every possible calorie-filled moment. Oh look, the fat guy has his
shirt off in the lake, look at how he jiggles when he waves “hello,” isn’t that
hilarious?! Sure, you want your audience to have fun, but why not try something
witty, intelligent, or actually funny – instead of approaching comedy like a
middle school aged bully. Comedy isn’t the only victim here, though, as our
story feels like a weird mix between M. Night’s The Last Airbender and every
other Japanese samurai movie in eternity. Rinsch’s film sparks the briefest
moments of magic and utilizes the laziest fits of rage in an attempt to blow
away viewers, worried more about playing it safe for mass appeal over taking
kung fu risks and grasping for glory.
Visually,
the heavy CGI and lavish set-pieces do try to build a cultural atmosphere with
a magical twist, and Rinsch does show he can set a big-budget production with a
keen eye for beautiful aesthetics, but the more frantic scenes show a bit of
inexperience. When the chaos kicks in, Rinsch flails the camera about to convey
just how massively intense Keanu’s battle or Kuranosuke’s chase is, but
especially when CGI creatures are involved, it’s incredibly hard to make certain
scenes out, and the CGI work becomes nothing but a blur.
On top of
this, Rinsch’s fight sequences seem a bit more slapstick than explosive, again
hitting on a strange tone that doesn’t ever permit the feeling of an action
epic, staying somewhere in easy-to-watch territory. It’s rather bland, pulls
the least amount of punches possible, and especially considering the Ronin’s
final plan, it’s more silly than anything. There are certainly fun-filled
moments, but when it becomes time for a true battle, 47 Ronin remains
unfavorably goofy, wasting so many opportunities for truly stylized martial
artistry.
With an
all-star cast of Japanese actors, it’s a shame to say 47 Ronin isn’t a fitting
adventure for true martial arts film fans. Most of the problems I’ve mentioned
above stem from an awfully underdeveloped and watered-down script whose only
motivations appear to be Americanizing samurai cultures and making a 3D movie
to cash in on the heightened price of admission – failing at both. There’s a
reason the best samurai films come from overseas, subtitles and all – and
without this American 3D obsession. There isn’t a single scene found in
Rinsch’s film that begs for the pain of wearing those bothersome, cheap 3D
glasses, but this is just one of the many wrong moves 47 Ronin makes. Why don’t
we just stick to our gun-slinging Westerns and let the true masters worry about
making quality samurai films – which will just end up being remade, anyways.