47 Ronin: A Black and White Samurai Movie

Keywords: action, fantasy, Japan, Samurai, revenge
Audience: 13+ (under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian)
Violent content: much blood and severed limbs (mild visualization)
Sexual content: kissing scene, rape attempt scene (mild visualization)

This movie review is basically written upon a paradox: I'm writing a review about why I didn't want to write a review of this movie.

I saw the movie wall promotion on Blitz before watching The Hobbit last week. The promotional poster was captivating, especially the female villain. And then I was lucky enough to watch 47 Ronin last night (thanks to Duniaku.net).

sumber foto: screencrush.com

The 119 minutes watching the movie didn't leave me with the feeling of wanting to write a review about it. Unlike Snowpiercer, an impressive movie that I still want to tell people about, 47 Ronin was something that I don't know what to discuss about.

Oh, it's not a bad movie. It served us with great visual exploitation and neat storyline (not without plot holes). The problem is everything was black and white. The protagonists were good people: a noble group of Samurai and the only mistake they had made was looking down at the main character (Kai the half-breed, played by Keanu Reeves). The antagonists were bad people who lusted after power and hegemony. No one was in-between. No one.

(If you do want to watch the movie, don't check the trailer. It contains spoilers. I checked the trailer the day after I watched the movie and I was so relieved that I hadn't seen it.)

And the visualization of most things in the movie supported the black and white tendency. Behold, this is where the good people lived: bright buildings, square, forest, and hills! Now take a look at where the bad people lived: a dark castle looming over a tight square surrounded by mighty walls!

I can rant more about the cheesy love story and the odd ways the Japanese people interact in the movie. But Keanu Reeves is a good guy; I can't do that to him (or I'm just too lazy to write more). However, I couldn't say 47 Ronin is not entertaining. It's fun, especially for those haven't much exposed to Samurai spirit. For those looking for something deep, you'd rather watch The Last Samurai again.