The Last Samurai | Review

Cruise shows why he’s got the Eye of the Tiger.

When director Edward Zwick looks back on his career he can easily claim that “this was the one”. Prior to this swooping epic, Zwick’s only moment worth noting was perhaps a half a dozen scenes in his civil war drama Glory and perhaps a good five minutes worth in David Mamet play-adaptation with About Last Night…. Not unlike Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World, this Hollywood style production contains a strong sense of history, tradition and honor and the world’s most bankable star in perhaps his most physically toughest challenge to date.

The Last Samuraiwon’t take home the big prize at the Oscars, but this doesn’t mean that the film hasn’t got its merits. With a limited CGI presence, this is perhaps a great companion piece for anyone that absolutely craves for the final installment in the Lord of the Rings franchise, as both will get the highest marks their production design. Much like Dances With Wolves,the film is about switching sides, but the Tom Cruise vehicle also contains more than the bravery of facing death’s doorstep as it finds its intensity from themes that revolve around finding one’s inner piece, the code of the samurai and true sacrifice. When his character is not busy chopping off the top of native Indians heads, Captain Nathan Algren (Tom Cruise –Minority Report) is knocking back some fire water and living out some nasty nightmares. After getting recruited by some military and not baseball scouts, the man with amazing shooting abilities gets shipped down to Japan. After getting caught by the enemy and forced into short conversational exchanges in English with his Japanese mentor Katsumoto (Ken Watanabe), his metamorphism occurs and learning the language, cutlture and how to swing a sword chases away his inner demons.

Cruise is at his best when he is blood stained and muddied up, but when the film gives us the comedic undertones it lightens his character down in size, I’m thinking of the sequence that shows the prodigy fighting into empty air while wearing what his character refers to as “female” garb which reminded me of his rock star air guitar moves from All the Right Moves. It’s perhaps a minor shift in tone from his fury as an enraged solider to caged animal, but the soft and cuddly sensible with children persona throws his character slightly off-balance from the pleasurable re-incarnated warrior context.

While the film remains unimaginative in the plot department, the one certified value comes from the complete production design–from the same LOTR New Zealand beautiful landscape to the captivating cinematography this is pleasurable to the eye and unlike the ending of the film which tries too hard it is a moment prior to that which feels simple, yet authentically intelligent. When the protagonist prepares for battle by switching into different attire, we have this romanticism attached to his gestures and a connection between him and the female character is suggested but never explored. It distinguishes itself from the rest of the film in the same manner that the battle in the rain sequence becomes visually appeasing.

While I was perhaps more intrigued in the sword and the samurai Tarantino tale and was completely blown away from the mighty import of another samurai fighter in Zatoichi, this Hollywood take is quite an achievement for a still unproven director. Potentially, The Last Samurai is the best date film after seeing Love Actually, its got plenty of action for the boys and one hot ticket item for the ladies, and is the first good movie of the holiday season that merits a trip to the theatres.

Rating 3 stars