Lovely Epic; Welcome Change from Recent Popcorn-fare

Rating: 7/10 (30 November 2003)

My love for epics, Tom Cruise, and Japanese culture drove me to see this film. Repeatedly if possible. Having just come back from the sneak preview of the film (viewing #1 and counting), it is difficult for me to accept much of the criticism reviewers have generated. Some seemed upset by the lack of hacking-and-slashing action that the trailer appeared to promise, others offended by the apparent Love-the-White-Foreigner complex. Both criticisms are easy to dismiss once you've actually seen the movie.
You will be disappointed if you enter the theater expecting hacking and slashing and gore-galore. God forbid that the movie be filled with *gasp* plot! The action that exists is beautifully choreographed, yet the filmmakers never forget that the stillness in between is just as important. There is no gore for the sake of gore itself - morbid beauty is found in every death and injury that occurs, and each only serves to remind us of the futility and bitterness of the conflict these warriors find themselves in.
Tom Cruise may be billed as the star of the picture, but never does he become the glaring centerpiece of what is clearly an ensemble film. Each member of the Japanese cast explores a different perspective of a culture that may at first be incomprehensible to westerners. The eventual interest between Taka and Algren is beautifully restrained, as it would have been at the time. Some have deemed this plotline silly and unrealistic, yet when we see Taka's reaction towards Algren's relationship with her children and his own introspective growth, the eventual attraction is not so surprising. Nor does the film fall into the "white man attraction" cliche - that Algren is a foreigner seems highly irrelevant in their interest in each other - Taka hardly falls all over herself when he first crashes into her life. It is the tension and slow acceptance of eachother that makes this affair all the more delicious.
There's much more to be said about this film, but really, it's been said, and said better, by my fellow reviewers. All in all this film ranks as one of my favorites of the year - I will be seeing it again -a lovely epic that comes as a welcome change from the recent popcorn-fare that has populated screens, possibly only to be topped by RotK.
And, on a less intelligent note: DUDE. NINJA. I nearly squealed in joy at the neat surprise that it was.