classicsoncall Review of 47 Ronin

47 Ronin (2013)

"When a crime does unpunished, the world is unbalanced."

[7/10 · 7 August 2019]

For a film dealing with forty seven ronin, there's very little in the way of martial arts action in the story. The problem I have is with the blind obedience the various provinces had to honor Shogun Tsunayoshi (Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa) with. To my mind, the Asano Clan did the right thing in avenging the death of their Lord (Min Tanaka), but with one god-like authority calling the shots without question, the possibility that he might have been wrong is dealt with as a moot point. I also couldn't understand why the Nagato Witch (Rinko Kikuchi) made herself subservient to Lord Kira (Tadanobu Asano). As powerful as she was in her various guises, she didn't need to go to all that trouble to get her way, she could have stepped right over Kira as need be. Though Kianu Reeves is the principal character Kai, a half-breed warrior raised by the Asano Clan, it seems at times that the real hero of the story is Hiroyuki Sanada's Oishi as point man for the Asano's. It's Oishi who rises to the occasion to put away Lord Kira, while Kai (Reeves) battles the dragon-witch in her final guise. I know the point of the story is honor and tradition, but what would have happened if all the Samurai at the end of the picture decided they weren't going to follow the Shogun's order to commit seppuku? I don't think I would have liked those odds if I was in his shoes.