An uninspired Tom Cruise vehicle

Rating: Null/10 (14 January 2004)

Having looked forward to The Last Samurai for over a year I can't help feeling a little disappointed with a film that essentially allowed Cruise to do his usual character just in a period setting.
I have to say, I am really finding it hard to watch Tom Cruise these days. His range of characters has been extremely poor, especially when you compare him to other current Hollywood giants such as Tom Hanks.
The story is as cliched as one could expect from a Hollywood adaption of an historical moment in Japanese history and the script follows suit. For anyone who has any interest in Japanese history and indeed Samurai, they will have probably read Shogun by James Clavell and will no doubt see all the similarities that are evidently present. I mean, lets face it, there was really no need to have the ninja attack on the village.

The shining star of the movie was no doubt brooding Ken Watanabe who truly made the movie what it is. Without his performance it really could have been a whole lot worse. Cruise gives way his screentime admirably here and allows Watanabe to really give his best performance.
Costume design and cinematography were both equally stunning and despite being a Hollywood film, a lot of respect was given to the ideals of the Samurai, which is reassuring.
For anyone who finds this as their first taste of Samurai entertainment I emplore you to seek out real quality movies, especially Seven Samurai, Yojimbo, Sanjuro, Ran and Kagemusha to name but a few.

Still, an enjoyable film for all and gives Samurai lovers such as myself enough to feast on, but unfortunately gives us Tom Cruise as well. Still well worth watching though.