An epic masterpiece?

Rating: 10/10 (22 December 2003)

The Last Samurai is one of the best constructed epics that I have seen, and the direction was wonderful.
First let's talk about Tom Cruise, a movie with Cruise is an instant box office success but critically Cruise tends to overact.. so how do you combat this? Carefully prune over the script... overacting is OK when Cruise is drunk, but it is not OK in a touching scene so don't let him speak much... Cruise doesn't have to talk much during action so that is good too; however, people like to see Cruise on camera so show a lot of him BUT use this discretion to keep him from showing off his penchant for overacting and watch the sound because he breathes really loud which can get annoying... in this movie the director knew all this and was able to combat the flaws in Cruise's acting.
Now there were some great actors in this movie like Ken Watanabe (Katsumoto) who was simply stunning (he should be nominated for best Supporting Actor)
So good acting is important to this type of film but the two other important aspects are script and action sequences.
Action sequences are very important because this is a samurai movie but the sequences must be tasteful and endearing because there are in the context of the movie. Watch a Van Dam movie and its like "oh ok time for senseless fighting" just like in a porno its like "what's your name? Lets have sex." In Last Samurai the beautifully choreographed action scenes are always meaningful, for they are meant to reveal the true essence of characters, and in this aspect I don't think I've ever seen a movie in which action so aptly revealed a character.
The script in an epic is very important because it dictates the pace of a movie. If the script is too fast between action scenes, then the action scenes lose meaning and the movie becomes another crappy film whose sole purpose is to make a profit (i.e. Once Upon a Time in Mexico, Reindeer Gamers, any Van Dam, Seagal, Stallone, or Schwarzenegger movie). If the script is too slow you may be watching the English Patient or some other god-awful overdone movie that is painful to bear because of tediously long periods of complete inaction. Dialogue and plot is important too because a movie like Legends of the Fall actually manages to pass the previous test but still finds wanting because of well.. a corny plot and some stupid dialogue.. I was cheering with the next guy when Aiden Quinn shot Brad Pitt's would be killers, but it was not a great movie because the plot was way too sweeping. The Last Samurai is not in a rush to finish but never lingers too long on any scene or any subject and this is the movie's true accomplishment.. you feel fulfilled when the movie ends... good has not completely triumphed (which I am glad for) and somehow you feel like a part of you can walk out of the movie a little better, whether it be braver or with a greater appreciation for life.
This being said there are couple of imperfections, as there are with any movie. 1) the search for the perfect blossom was a metaphysical search the point was not literally finding one 2) there a couple too many long looks between Cruise and Katsumoto;s sister 3) while it treated itself as original, the white man ALWAYS wins.. although in this case it was pretty clear that had to happen.
Unless you truly cannot stand Tom Cruise do not hesitate to see this near masterpiece... for those of you who hate Cruise.. give it a try because there is a remarkably talented surrounding cast