Ken Watanabe is Great

Rating: 9/10 (26 December 2003)

I haven't seen a movie I've enjoyed so much in a long time. Everything worked for me, but mostly Ken Watanabe's performance was absolutely wonderful. Wow - such a presence! Cruise was ok, nothing particularly memorable, altho I did enjoy his interaction with the young children. My only gripe, albeit a small one, is that the scene where Cruise is teaching the warriors how to fire a gun ("faster, faster") was "stolen" from "Glory" and I hated that. Don't they think people remember memorable scenes like that? I gave it a "9" - good, solid acting, and well-written enough that I cared about all the characters. Beautifully done.