47 Ronin

47 Ronin

Rating 5 out of 10

When I saw the trailer for this movie I thought it looked very good.  A kind of mix between The Last Samurai and the 300.   Looked like 47 good guys highly outnumbered going against thousands of bad guys with honor and no telling what else at stake.  That was partially correct.

Early on we find out a Ronin is a samurai in Japan that has disgraced his master and then is demoted from the samurai status and exiled.  We also find out the rules of Japanese law and honor were tough back then.  If you step in for a sick samurai to fight this giant bad samurai without permission they take off your armor and beat you severely with big sticks.  Also if you strike a distinguished guest in your castle, even if you are under a spell from an evil witch, the penalty is death.

Oshi (Keanu Reeves) is a "half breed" who was raised by a strange looking group of bad men until he escaped and was taken in by the samurai master who was later put to death.  He joins a group of  47 Ronin's to avenge the masters death and regain their honor.

The movie seems like it would be packed with action when it mostly is talking about honor and deception. The first half is rather dull and the second half barely picks up with an ending that left me scratching my head on how this honor can make sense.

I would wait to rent this one.