Nicely told epic

Rating: Null/10 (18 January 2004)

The Last Samurai continues Tom Cruise's evolution from his Top Gun/Day of Thunder days to his current Magnolia/Vanilla Sky tenure where he proves he can act. Well, certainly in a deeper way than he could when he made The Firm, a Few Good Men etc. Indeed, Last Samurai is one of his finest performances, managing to convey a convincing portrayal of a reluctant war hero who is held in contempt by his superiors and banished to Japan to train a regiment there in preparation for war against the uprising samurais. The war is short lived, and his men are nowhere near experienced enough to handle it causing them to get easily overpowered. He gets captured and is made a prisoner in the samurai village. And that's where the development of his character really begins.
Where this movie excels is the level to which it draws you in and makes you care. It is directed with flair but without arrogance, the cinematography is highly impressive, the performances are uniformly excellent bar the Emperor (Shichinosuke Nakamura) who really struggles with his English in one scene, and the relationships between the characters are extremely well-judged with some highly appropriate humour showing a lack of conceit and ability to smile.
It is a long story, but a rewarding one.