47 Ronin is a movie based on a Japanese folktale by the same name.  The original Japanese story was a tale of honor and revenge in which 47 Ronin (meaning Samurai without a master) set out to kill the man who caused their master’s death.

This movie had the potential to be an intelligent reboot of a well-known Japanese tale, but director Carl Rinsch ruins the opportunity with the addition of a new plot that goes along with the main one.  It’s filled with fantasy mumbo-jumbo about the destined hero, Kai (Keanu Reeves), who fights alongside the 47.  This cheesy narrative tries to take center stage, but feels like a side story, or a different movie altogether.

In fact, Reeves’s tale barely interferes with that of the Ronin, getting its own separate goal – a love interest, Mika (Kou Shibasaki) – and evil witch antagonist to battle (Rinko Kikuchi).  The witch is well done, with an unpredictable temperament and some cool billowy-cloak CG transformations, but, again, doesn’t belong here.  Besides her and a few well-choreographed fight scenes, the Kai side story only serves to drag the movie down, and the whole experience would have been better without it.

The original had its own perfectly good hero, Oishi (Hiroyuki Sanada), who’s story in the movie feels much more legitimate than Kai’s.  The scenes that focus on him and the 47 Ronin follow the original story, and – although they’re rare – hint at a deeper, better movie that this could have been.

47 Ronin is a disappointment that could have been more.      1.5/5