...as also the whole fantasy thing (the monsters, not the witch).
I felt the whole Kai subplot was just tacked on the main plot, with no real involvement in advancing the story.
Anyone can re-cut the film somehow, removing all presence and mentions of Kai and you'll still get a fairly decent and coherent film. They should've stuck Sanada's name on the poster and go all Asian on this film...
Exactly my thought when I stepped out of cinema. Digitally remove Reeves and cut away all the mediocre fantasy stuff. There's a great classic "japanese" movie under the unnecessary fluff. It was since Kurosawa I haven't seen costumes and bacgrounds that gorgeous.
'What has been affirmed without proof can also be denied without proof.' (Euclid)
The Japanese have a lot of mythological beliefs and 47 Ronin has been told the 'normal' way many times before so incorporating their mythology was a pretty nifty idea, Keanu growing up in the Oni jungle and so forth, many of these elements are Japanese legends.
Keanu was probably involved as a selling point but he was also there from a narrative perspective that a lot of people simply didn't realize. Keanu was our window into the Samurai way of life, his interactions with them helped show us the class based system and strict societal traditions the Samurai came from and what it meant for them to lose their standing as Samurai.
Keanu was the one who pushed for more Asian actors to be in it so you should be grateful because if it wasn't Keanu, it would have had a lot more white actors in it.
I don't suffer from insanity; I enjoy every minute of it.
He could've involved behind the camera, e.g. as producer or executive producer...
His character had no impact whatsoever on the story, not even his mixed racial background, it doesn't make the film or the story more accessible to non-asian, except to force them to use English...
If the romantic subplot removed, Reeves will be descended into cameo, because he doesn't even get that much screentime...
Even the Tengu jungle scene can be easily changed to a some kind of legend or a bedtime story one of the ronins heard, and they decided to prove it's true, and Kai wouldn't get any screentime :D
He's the one that gets them their weapons, defeats the witch because he is the most trained, and gives most everyone character development. He's the most important character to the narrative.
Also, the bigotry against his character helps illustrate the rigid thinking of Japanese of the time.
Keanu reeves doesn't look even slightly Japanese at all.
shareThe addition of Keanu Reeves is a problem with Hollywood.. You see they can't seem to tell a story of another peoples history, myths or legends without making a white guy(easily passes for white) as the absolute center of attention. See films like Last Airbender, Dragonball Z and Forbidden Kingdom. The white people in these movies are completely unnecessary. The thought process behind this of course is that no white people will take an interest in these films without some white guy as the main protagonist.
However, when you look at the ratings and critiques of these films; who are the people that trash them the most...WHITES. Why?? Because white folks who enjoy these types of films want to see them depicted by the people whom the legends actually belong to.. Hollywood needs to take note of this the next time they want to make a story which is dear to a none white people, yet they still feel the need to interject a Caucasian lead.
maybe they feel its going to be bankable enough
gohmifune
Also, the bigotry against his character helps illustrate the rigid thinking of Japanese of the time.
monstermayhem32
Keanu reeves doesn't look even slightly Japanese at all.
Hulksmash247
The addition of Keanu Reeves is a problem with Hollywood.. You see they can't seem to tell a story of another peoples history, myths or legends without making a white guy(easily passes for white) as the absolute center of attention. See films like Last Airbender, Dragonball Z and Forbidden Kingdom. The white people in these movies are completely unnecessary. The thought process behind this of course is that no white people will take an interest in these films without some white guy as the main protagonist.
However, when you look at the ratings and critiques of these films; who are the people that trash them the most...WHITES. Why?? Because white folks who enjoy these types of films want to see them depicted by the people whom the legends actually belong to.. Hollywood needs to take note of this the next time they want to make a story which is dear to a none white people, yet they still feel the need to interject a Caucasian lead.
Honestly, I'm more upset about the fact that Rick Genest is on the main movie poster when we see him about 2 minutes in the whole movie, and not Sanada who is at least the 2nd main character of the movie.
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