47 RONIN

This movie starring Keanu Reeves, Hiroyuki Sanada, Kou Shibasaki and so on came across as a bit strange especially when the Japanese actors in an 18th Century Japan spouted perfectly accented English. I guess it is not really surprising that this movie did not fare well at the box office ratings and was nominated for the rotten tomatoes list.

A ronin is a samurai who lost his master by failing to protect him from harm's way. In this movie, 47 ronins, including the outcast Kai played by Keanu, were led by Hiroyuki's character Oishi to avenge their masters' deaths against Lord Kira, who was helped by a shape-shifting sorceress.

To me, what was interesting was the many different hairstyles of the ronins and comic relief came in the form of a plump ronin, who was both cute and drew much laughter and sniggles from the otherwise silent audience.