Impressive

Rating: 9/10 (5 December 2003)

I had mixed feelings going into this movie. When I saw the previews I scoffed at the idea of trying to integrate the hollywood heart-throb "Tom Cruise" into a Samurai movie. I was almost sure they were going to really screw it up and have Cruise as some sort of cross-culture super hero.

Instead they delivered a very surprising and well-done movie. Although Tommy Boy is on the camera a majority of the time they didn't seem to depend on him as the movie's saving grace. All the characters (especially Katsumoto) had a very strong presence. The movie as a whole worked incredibly well.