47 Ronin

When a lavish fantasy-action flick based on the oft-filmed story of a group of legendary samurai fighters actually bombs in Japan before opening in the U.S., something is obviously wrong. Set in 18th-century feudal Japan, 47 Ronin stars Keanu Reeves as Kai, a half-English/half-Japanese outsider, one of 47 warriors who become masterless samurai—known as “ronin”—after villainous Lord Kira (Tadanobu Asano) forces Lord Asano Naganori (Min Tanaka) to commit seppuku and then claims his land. Shunned by his fellow exiles, mystical Kai was trained in demonic sorcery and survival skills by the earless snake-men in the Tengu forest who, eventually, will supply the ronin with swords to avenge the dishonor to their master. To complicate matters, lowly Kai is secretly in love with Kira's beautiful daughter, Mika (Ko Shibasaki), who has been promised to top-ranking warrior Oishi (Hiroyuki Sanada). Oishi, Kai, and their stoic cohorts must eventually battle not only Kira's army but also menacing CGI beasts and a vampy, shape-shifting sorceress (Rinko Kikuchi). Filmmaker Carl Rinsch's would-be epic is a confusing, poorly paced, and mindlessly generic film, despite its bloated $175 million budget (spent on sumptuous production design and sweeping cinematography). Not a necessary purchase. [Note: DVD/Blu-ray extras include deleted scenes (8 min.), a “Re-Forging the Legend” production featurette (7 min.), and trailers. Exclusive to the Blu-ray release are the behind-the-scenes segments “Myths, Magic & Monsters: The FX” (8 min.), “Steel Fury: The Fights” (6 min.), and “Keanu & Kai” with star Keanu Reeves (4 min.), as well as bonus DVD, digital, and UltraViolet copies of the film. Bottom line: a solid extras package for a disappointing film.] (S. Granger)