47 Ronin (2013)

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Starring

Keanu Reeves ~ Kai
Hiroyuki Sanada ~ Ôishi
Ko Shibasaki ~ Mika
Tadanobu Asano ~ Lord Kira

Summary

“Keanu Reeves stars in the action-adventure epic, 47 Ronin. After a treacherous warlord kills their master and banishes their kind, 47 leaderless samurai vow to seek vengeance and reclaim their honor. This band of ronin must seek help from Kai (Reeves)—an enslaved half-breed they once rejected—in their ultimate fight for redemption in a savage world of mythic and wondrous terrors. Kai becomes their most deadly weapon and the heroic inspiration for these outnumbered warriors to confront their enemy and seize eternity.”

-From Amazon.com

Review

Wow…all I can really say is wow. And I know I say that a lot but with my love of Japanese things such as their language, culture, anime, weapons and all of that good stuff, this movie was just fabulous. I will warn you, do have a box of tissues ready because there were quite a few gut wrenching scenes. I honestly spent quite a lot of time crying my eyes out over a few of the scenes and what makes it worse is the fact that it is based on real events and a real legend from the Japanese culture.

They brought in seppuku quite a few times which was painful to watch, not in the sense that it was gruesome, but in the sense that it was just sad to see it happen and because of the reasons that it did. Of course all of this echoed back to the Japanese culture and such and that made it so much sadder because of the fact that it was real. I mean, these people did all of this stuff, that was honorable, or not even their fault, and still they were essentially punished. It kind of gives you a new kind of respect for a person when they kill themselves, or beg to be able to kill themselves, so that they can redeem their honor. And then when the time comes, they do not flinch. It’s just inspiring in a sad kind of way.

Now, I know that a lot of people have seemed to dislike this movie, based on reviews and such, but it was really really good. I can understand why people wouldn’t like it because it’s not all flash-bangy like many modern movies but it was just so good. The 47 Ronin were real people and you can actually visit their graves, but this story follows more of the legend with the mythological creatures and witches of the sort. It was definitely different but I really liked that about it. It isn’t a movie for everyone because of the style with which it was done, but I do recommend that everyone gives it a try because it was unique in the story line and the entire idea of the movie.

The cinematography was interesting as well. When the more evil guy took over, everything went darker and when there were good times, it was lighter and it was just quite interesting how it was done.

Also there was some magic in the movie as well as some mythical creatures and that just added an interesting element to it. Instead of it being more of a real life account, it made it more of a legend which was interesting and just added some quite nifty qualities to it because it made it a little harder to guess how it would end and what would happen because of this other element that defied the laws of logic to a level.

The general idea was of a man trying to protect his love and when he lost her, he wanted to do anything to get her back and protect her. I mean, nothing is more romantic that your true love doing anything, even after a period of time not being able to, to come and save you so that they could love you.

Overall I just loved it and definitely do suggest checking it out and watching it and let me know what you think. I’m curious how many people like it and how many don’t.