47 Ronin (2013)

Anyone with even a passing interest in samurai, ninja and all things ancient Japan will be aware of the heroic story of the revenge of the 47 Ronin, even if they don't know the exact details.

However, this 2013 movie tackles the historical event through the same heightened reality kaleidoscope as used on films such as 300 or the Pirates Of The Caribbean, throwing monsters, demons, animated suits of armour and a shape-changing witch into the mix.

Although Keanu Reeves is the name over the title, his character - Kai, a half-breed outcast raised by mystical bird-featured demons called Tengu - really takes the role of the 'right hand man' to the leader of the 47 Ronin, Ôishi (Hiroyuki Sanada).

After Lord Asano (Min Tanaka) is magically tricked into attacking an unarmed guest, the wicked Lord Kira (Tadanobu Asano), during a visit by the ruling shogun Tsunayoshi (Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa), he is granted an honourable death by his own hand, but his men are stripped of their samurai status, branding them ronin. Lord Kira is given Asano's lands and the hand of Asano's daughter Mika (Kô Shibasaki) in marriage - after she has mourned the loss of her father for a year.

The shogun forbids the ronin from seeking revenge, but Kira still doesn't trust Ôishi and has him thrown in an oubliette for a year to break his spirit. However, when he is released - a week before Kira and Mika's wedding - his desire for revenge is still burning hot.

He goes to rescue Kai, who has been sold as a slave to Dutch traders, having realised that the warning he ignored from Kai about "witchcraft", before Lord Asano's fall from grace, had merit.

Together they reunite with the other former samurai of Lord Asano and hatch a plan to seek revenge on Lord Kira - knowing that even if they succeed it will mean their death because they are disobeying the shogun's edict.

47 Ronin is a very straight-forward, revenge-driven action adventure, with the chaste romantic - love across social barriers - sub-plot between Kai and Mika handled really well.

But the most impressive aspect, storywise at least, is the film's determination to stick to the Truth of the honourable death conclusion.

I'll admit I was half-expecting some kind of Hollywood cop-out - which would have undone the importance of the story, of course - and so was rather taken with the downbeat ending the film delivered.

I rather suspect that this kind of ending might not gel with what the majority of Western audiences want from their action films, which might have contributed to the lack of box office success for 47 Ronin.

Now, admittedly beyond Ôishi and a handful of others, the ronin aren't really much more than red shirts, but - for me - the fantasy story sold itself, with its simplistic take on samurai honour jumbled up with monsters and magic.

Although the effects are very slick and modern, the scenery is striking and monsters are impressive,  47 Ronin has more in common with the sword and sorcery flicks of the '70s and '80s than genuine 'historical' dramas about the samurai era of Japan.

And on that level, I really enjoyed it.