The Film
When a film has been kicking around Hollywood for a really long time, it's either something mind-blowing or a ginormous mess. The big-budget action flick 47 Ronin falls into the latter category, of course.
When it finally hit theaters, it was a blink-and-you'll-miss-it sort of thing. Hopefully, you blinked -- or maybe even took a little nap. There's plenty of opportunity, given 47 Ronin's 119-minute runtime.
Of course, that's not really lengthy for a movie these days. It's just lengthy for this movie. And while 47 Ronin does have some interesting moments, it just doesn't work on a whole. Some of that blame can be pointed in the direction of star Keanu Reeves.
The actor revives his kung-fu skills for the role of Kai, a super-warrior who is also a bit of an outcast because of his half-Japanese, half-British heritage. Oh, and there's beasts, too. Some of those are bewitching the village of Ako. In particular, the Lord Asano Naganori (Min Tanaka) gets tweaked by a spider, which causes him to hallucinate and attack an unarmed man. Eh, we've all been there before. However, in Ako, this is something that's punishable by death. Now, Kai is bent on revenge, because Asano was the only guy in the village who never personally beat him with large wooden sticks. He's also the daddy of Kai's ladylove, Mika (Kou Shibasaki).
From there, second-in-command Oishi (Hiroyuki Sanada) and his men are branded to be Ronin, which means they're now lord-free, banished, and not allowed to seek vegenance. Given that Kai isn't a real samurai and everyone else is pretty much an outcast as well, apparently, they don't seem to think that the rules really apply.
So you see, it's a revenge tale (surprise!) without a big Hollywood ending, because it's based on actual history. Does that make 47 Ronin a good movie? It certainly could have been one. Instead, all of the cool visuals and action sequences end up getting squashed by a slow pace, unexplained creatures and questionable acting.
The Picture
This film was shot in 3D and offers a decent amount of depth -- for the most part. Some scenes definitely have better effects than others. For instance, there were plenty of times where I could remove my 3D glasses and watch the film just fine. Also, there aren't as many pop-out effects as you'd expect. A sword shatters and both falling embers and snow do stand out. That's it, so if you're expecting additional in-your-face swordfights, creatures or other action, you're going to be sorely disappointed. I knocked the image's score down a half a star for that, but the 3D effects don't make this 2.40:1 film any less pretty. The colors overall are a bit on the dark side, with reds and golds offering the best pop. The detail is the real standout here. Hair strands and stubble look great, and the clothing is beautifully textured. The Lovecraftian Samurai alone is so ornate. No wonder this film had such a high budget!
The Sound
Music plays a huge role in 47 Ronin and it sounds pretty awesome in this DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mix. However, despite having a bold presence, that soundtrack never interferes with the dialogue, which is always crystal-clear here. Also worth noting is that this track has a hearty helping of ambient sounds, whether it's footsteps, birds, horses, or the cheers of blood-thirsting crowds. It probably won't win this film any additional fans, but it's a nice match for the film's image.
The Extras
Final Thoughts
For such a lengthy wait, 47 Ronin is sort of meh. Keanu Reeves seems a little out of place and completely unnecessary to the action. Hiroyuki Sanada probably could have handled the entire thing by himself and made this a better (and shorter) movie. Of course, most American audiences wouldn't have seen it, though. Not that too many saw it, anyway -- at least not enough to make back its $175 million budget. It may get a bit of a second life on Blu-ray, if not for the gorgeous imagery and engaging audio.
Product Details
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