Yeah, its pretty bad...

Keanu was miscast. I adore him, but this part really wasn't for him. He's about ten years too old for this, I'd say, and his laid back vibe doesn't suit the part. Kai should have been played by someone younger, and with a lot more fire contained under the surface.

The main problem, though, was the direction - clumsy is a good word, so I'm stealing it from you. The first act especially was painfully awkward. The acting on a few fronts was cringe-worthy as well. Some of the actors were really struggling with their lines, English clearly not coming naturally. Sanada was really good, though, which went a long way to making this watchable.

And yes, I see glimpses of what could have been a much better movie, too.

reply share

add reply

formatting help

it's failures are not in the source material

I think some of them are, commercially at least. Despite the Mizoguchi films having such a revered reputation, they were box-office disasters and subsequent Japanese versions weren't blockbusters - partially bcause they were no more successful at making such a large group of characters much more than a crowd scene with only two or three getting any attention in the script. It's a problem with smaller numbers too: you can manage to make each of the Seven samurai a rounded character, but how many of the Dirty Dozen really make an impression even in a two-and-a-half hour film?

Also, it's one of those subjects like the American war of Independence that may be a source of national pride but doesn't translate into big business and the values it espouses may well be more endemic of previous generations of Japanese rather than young moviegoing ones. Outside Japan it's not really that well known, so for an American studio to even approach material that had commercially defied some of Japan's best filmmakers was a huge risk. Though giving it to a director as clumsy and unimaginative as Carl Rinsch was pretty much guaranteeing that even if the original script was as good as many thought - and there's little evidence from the finished film - he'd beat any signs of life out of it.


"Security - release the badgers."

reply share

add reply

formatting help

Your perspective is pretty bad...

reply share

add reply

formatting help