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47 Ronin is based on a Japanese legend but, the film adds one new character, Keanu Reeves! Keanu plays Kai, an orphan outsider partially taken in by the master of a local prefecture. Naturally, Mika, the master’s daughter played by Ko Shibasaki, develops feelings for the outsider. Keanu Reeves is the only white person, yes he is partially pacific islander, in the film and saves the day. This is a white savior movie.
I watched 47 Ronin with my partner, and we went into watching it with low expectations. We did not take the movie too seriously, cracking jokes throughout. This setup made the movie quite enjoyable. It was not as awful as we anticipated it being. Reeves’s performance is his normal flat monotone. He does have plenty of good action scenes, not John Wick level, but entertaining. The film moves from action sequence to action sequence quickly with a balanced amount of dialog in between.
If you want a stupid movie with good action this may suit you. The cast is full of stars of Japanese cinema, but their characters are not well developed. It is disappointing to see such a waste of talent. There are issues with adding an unneeded white savior to a Japanese legend. Netflix has announced a sequel to 47 Ronin, but it is set 300 years in the future. 47 Ronin is famous for losing hundreds of millions of dollars and being horrible. A sequel, set in a cyberpunk future, makes no sense, but we will see when or if it gets released.