47 Ronin is a fantasy action movie based on the 18th century masterless samurai who avenged their masters murder. Keanu Reeves stars as Kai a half breed raised by a group of magical monks whom he flees. Kai is taken into the service of Lord Asano where he is roundly outcast and treated as inferior. Due to treachery and witchcraft Lord Kira manufactures the downfall of Lord Asano and usurps his land and becomes betrothed to his daughter Mika. The remaining masterless samurai are now ronin, doomed to disgrace. A year passes and the remaining ronin gather and seek revenge.
Fantastical creatures, shape changers, and magical weapons weave together to make a surprisingly entertaining movie. Reeves, the presumable protaganist, is out shown by the Japanese leads and supporting cast, in this case Reeves is more a hindrance than an asset. His deadpan and inscrutable performance almost seem not to be one at all and the love story between Kai and Mika is distracting as well as unfulfilling. Reeves doesn't have enough screen time or lines to detract in any meaningful way to a good popcorn adventure.
The fight choreography and CGI mesh well to propel a narrative that clips along to a logical however odd conclusion.
Rent It.
Fans of the original will certainly enjoy this follow up, at the very least for nostalgic sake. All the performers return and heightened on their previous portrayals from the original but there is something most assuredly lacking.
What is most evident in Anchorman 2 is effort. The movie is chock full of surreal gags and absurdist circumstances, some of which solicit a fair amount of laughs, but ultimately the sequel tries too hard to top the original. The characters, already caricatures to begin with, go so far they no longer resemble actual people. Anchorman was the culmination of the Adam McKay and Will Farrell collaboration suppressed by SNL that exploded into an electric break-neck comedy. This movie is forced. Farrell and McKay may be too old, or too successful, to recapture the spastic irreverent brilliance of their original.
Enough laughs but nothing surprising or inspired.
Rent It.
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