47 Ronin: Keanu Reeves goes samurai

Not 100% sure what to think of this.

edited 26th Jul '13 8:08:43 PM by Vespa

Whoa.

That...has nothing whatsoever to do with the original story.

Still looks fun to watch, though.

What was the original story? From what I hear in history the half white and half Japanese man wouldn't be allowed to live. Also both his parents would have to die.

From what I remember, it concerns a lord who was untutored in the ways of court etiquette and was much mocked by other courtiers because of it. Finally the lord lost it and struck the man (a guy named Kira, apparently) who led the mockery. For this he was put to death.

The 47 samurai under his command became ronin. They plotted for two years against Kira, pretending to be drunken idiots the whole time, before finally fighting their way to Kira and killing him in revenge for their master's death. Afterward they all committed seppuku due to having committed murder.

I'm not sure how much of the story is real and how much is fictional, but the story itself is apparently very popular in both East and West — the East views it as a shining example of bushido, and the West views it as a shining example of loyalty.

So yeah, no snake women or halfbreeds in the original story.

Looks interesting enough. Then I started reading up on it; apparently the budget ballooned to over $200 million, the release date has been pushed back multiple times, the original director was taken off the project and the studio has messed with it during editing. There might be a good movie in there somewhere, but I doubt it'll be visible when all is said and done.

Also, the bad guys made me think of this.

edited 27th Jul '13 8:52:22 AM by Mort08

As someone in the comment section noted, the style of "Japanese fantasy land" reminded me of Samurai Jack. Looks actualy very interesting.

Sounds like it's trying to outdo World War Z in terms of production headaches.

Matthew Mercer said it kind of reminded him of Ninja Scroll, and I sort of agree. This could end up being like a live-action anime in a similar way to Pacific Rim, albeit a different genre of anime. I don't want to get my hopes up, but I think this movie could end up being really cool if all those production problems don't screw it up.

Made a page. Couldn't figure out how to make it with the numbers, though.

I want this to be good. While the story looks cliched as all get out, I'll be satisfied if it can successfully build a cool world.

edited 27th Jul '13 7:20:56 PM by Mort08

Keanu really seems to be getting into popcorn movie mode. This'll be on my radar.

This looks hilariously cheesy. I might have to watch it.

Or, as I like to call it, Snow White and the Forty Seven Samurai.

There was originally going to be a lot of animation, but they had to scrap that plan once Keanu Reeves was casted.

edited 29th Jul '13 8:38:34 PM by Rem

LOL to both.

I'm not sure about the movie. It might be decent popcorn watching, but I'm a bit iffy on the idea of the half-British hero. Not the fact that he was oppressed (that part seems accurate enough in the pseudo-Edo setting), but more that the character screams Mighty Whitey.

I liked this movie better (well, not really) when it was called The Last Samurai (guessing Reeves is the only one to make it out alive).

Yup, more Mighty Whitey. Par for the freakin' course of course.

From what I've read online the Japanese seem more bewildered about this whole affair then anything.

I will admit that the addition of fantasy elements to the pseudo-historical tale is actually kind of neat. Worked for the American civil war.

edited 29th Jul '13 9:10:58 PM by ShirowShirow

Imagine if we got word of a Japanese movie about Robin Hood where the Sheriff of Nottingham is an albino wizard who sends vampire assassins to attack the Merry Men. We'd be pretty bewildered, too.

Isn't that par for the course in Japanese adaptations? You haven't heard of space vampire Count of Monte Cristo?

Actually, strangely, when you put it like that it makes more sense. We take a lot of old tales and change them around in various ways- we'll do in the wizard on one adaptation and then add in features like talking animals to others. I've seen a half dozen Robin Hoods, adding in an albino wizard...yeah, wouldn't shock me.

It's not like anime hasn't already done this sort of thing numerous times with Japanese historical figures. Maybe not to this level of fantasy, but still. I think it's that it's also being done by Americans that's making the Japanese bewildered, like sort of an "Only we are allowed to embellish our own history." Mighty Whitey is probably another factor.

What exactly do you mean by "bewildered" though? Confused? Angry? Both?

edited 30th Jul '13 6:44:20 AM by StarOutlaw

The former mostly, although I imagine there are a few that are the latter. Just not much on 2chan.

Basically, it wouldn't surprise me if Japanese people see this movie as a reverse-Widget Movie.

The Last Samurai was brilliant. I watch it every time it pops up on free to air digital telly, I have seen the dvd a few times and I want the blu-ray at some point. This one? I think I will pass.

Mighty Whitey was the first thought that came to mind when I saw the film. At least-even though to my understanding the historical events played out rather differently-Last Samurai having a white guy as a main character at least can be justified, both to give the audience a outsider/third person perspective on the conflict in Japan and because Algren was at least based on a real person according to its trope page

However in 47 Ronin, why do we need a white character to identify with? I'm white myself and I don't think I need one, I honestly feel its rather disrespectful to the source material.

Was the thought process, "We need a white actor in the lead role" or was it "We need a big star like Keanu Reeves in the lead role"?

You just asked a question that entire organizations, websites, social movements and likeminded industry professionals have been trying to get an answer out of hollywood and the entertainment industry as a whole for decades now.

So far the barely legible response has basically been "We're racist".