47 Ronin (12A) 119 mins **
Hollywood’s latest play for
the growing Asian market revisits the ancient Japanese legend of
self-sacrifice, hoping to offset its garbled narrative and grinding
humourlessness with 3D and Keanu Reeves as a samurai Jesus. The VFX team have
some fun with Rinko Kikuchi’s shapeshifting witch, but otherwise this is a
terrible plod, hamstrung by rookie director Carl Rinsch’s inability to clearly
describe four ronin, let alone 47. The kind of globalised blandout initiated by
suits who understand algorithms and spreadsheets rather better than they do
specific cultures: for all the authentic Eastern flavour it imparts, Rinsch’s
film might have been shot around the Goole branch of Yo! Sushi.
47 Ronin opens in cinemas nationwide today.
