Shogun, Vol.2

Rating: Null/10 (10 May 2004)

Perhaps it's irony, perhaps it's marketing, but as James Clavell's "Shogun" dramatized the beginning of the great Shogun dynasties, "The last Samurai" dramatizes its downfall.
In fact it's over dramatized. Way over.
Ken Watanabe does manage to lift this mediocre action adventure with a performance that, for the most part, brings to life the ultimately beautiful, and extraordinarily refined culture of ancient Japan.
The motives, the rush to westernize and the planting of the seeds of the militaristic period, are probably close to the actual historical events. (Well close enough for Hollywood work, anyway.)
Tom Cruise does well, too, as an tormented American mercenary, under contract to modernize the Japanese army. (Which, in fact, the Japanese managed to do rather well, as we all know.)
The entire plot, though, is a just a shadow of the ol' 'cultural transition plot'; you know, the kind of story where someone from (usually) western culture is suddenly thrust into, absorbs and becomes adopted by the foreign culture. "Lawrence of Arabia" or "Dances with Wolves" are two good examples.
There are a couple of really good battle scenes, and if you think that music and battle don't mix, well, just turn off the sound.
All in all, it's okay. But nothing more than okay.