Synopsis
Kai—an outcast—joins Oishi, the leader of 47 outcast samurai. Together they seek vengeance upon the treacherous overlord who killed their master and banished their kind. To restore honour to their homeland, the warriors embark upon a quest that challenges them with a series of trials that would destroy ordinary warriors.
Your Movie Library
Cast
- Keanu ReevesKai
- Hiroyuki SanadaKuranosuke Ôishi
- Ko ShibasakiMika
- Tadanobu AsanoLord Kira
- Min TanakaLord Asano
- Rinko KikuchiWitch
- Jin AkanishiChikara
- Masayoshi HanedaYasuno
- Hiroshi SogabeHazama
- Takato YonemotoBasho
Recommendations
- 60
Empire
Perhaps a folly and – Kikuchi aside - too deadpan to be a romp, this is still a decent, colourful samurai spectacle with a classical look (lots of symmetrical compositions) and a story which stands up under multiple retellings. - 50
USA Today
While the visuals are lovely to behold, this unremarkable version of the classic 18th century Japanese legend is stiff and uninvolving. - 50
New York Post
There’s little sense of urgency, or — oddly, given the film’s title — of scale. You never really think that the 47 are truly outnumbered, and the large action scenes are often just incomprehensible. - 40
Variety
As impressive as these visual elements prove to be, the film struggles to grab and maintain audiences’ interest, whether or not they know the underlying legend by heart. - 30
The Hollywood Reporter
It falls short on character definition, emotional involvement, narrative drive and originality. - 30
Los Angeles Times
Rinsch, making his feature debut, shows the shortcoming of someone coming from the image-based world of commercials and advertising. There are moments of genuine beauty and a few terrifically eye-popping effects, but no feel yet for storytelling. - 25
Slant Magazine
This botched vision accepts the warrior's nobility at face value and sees the story merely as a springboard for high-flying action and CGI special effects. - 20
Total Film
“I will search for you through 1,000 worlds and 10,000 lifetimes!” Reeves promises his beloved. Anyone who sits all the way through this glossy folly will know exactly how that feels.
