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 hile it may be a Hollywood big-budget epic about an Asian
(and thus, foreign) culture, "The Last Samurai", while picturesque and
excellent on every technical level, is nonetheless strangely average. Which of
course doesn't mean it isn't a good movie, because it could almost be great --
except for the fact that nothing about it is very original. If you couldn't
guess the entire character arc of Tom Cruise's haunted Army Captain then you
must have turned your brain off during the movie. On the other hand, as a vessel
of superficial entertainment with some Feudal Japan Appreciation thrown in for
good measure, it's a winner.
Tom Cruise ("Minority
Report") headlines as Nathan Algren, a U.S. Army Captain in 1876. Fresh
off a stint butchering innocent Indians (aren't they always innocent in
Hollywood movies post-John Wayne?), Algren has become a hopeless drunk using his
questionable hero status to hawk wares for a rifle company. Opportunity comes
knocking in the form of Omura (Masato Harada), a Japanese ambassador who plans
to hire Algren and Algren's ex-commander (Tony Goldwyn, "Joshua")
to help modernize the Japanese army.
Off to Japan Algren goes, where he's thrown into combat
against rebel Samurai warrior Katsumoto (Ken Watanabe), a man of intense honor
who is duty-bound to stop the surge of modernity swallowing his country and
ending his way of life. The Emperor, a young man, is hopelessly under Omura's
thumb, and has decreed that all the Samurai must lay down arms or lose their
heads. After a brutal battle, Algren is captured and brought to Katsumoto's
remote mountain village, where the American learns to value his enemy and vice
versa, and before the 2 hours and 30 minutes are up, it's time for another
showdown -- except now Algren is at Katsumoto's side.
"The Last Samurai" spends the bulk of its long
running time immersed in the natural simplicity, and yet hauntingly beautiful,
life in the Japanese countryside. Katsumoto's village is not only remote, but is
blissfully trapped in the past, where honor and duty matters most of all. Even
as Tokyo modernizes, and kimonos are exchanged for suits and top hats, Katsumoto
and his loyal men hang onto their way of life with all their might. Not
surprisingly, Algren is easily seduced by the tranquility and hopeless
romanticism of Katsumoto's village, as well as falling in love with Taka
(Koyuki), whose home he's staying in. Alas, their relationship looks doomed,
because it was Algren who killed Taka's husband in battle.
Then again, this is a Hollywood movie, so the script by
director Zwick, Marshall Herskovitz, and John Logan ("Gladiator")
has as much subtlety as an ironsmith banging a katana into shape. And that, I'm
afraid, is "Samurai's" greatest weakness -- it is so simple as to be
condescending. One expects to see halos around all of the Samurai characters
except for the fiery Ujio (Hiroyuki Sanada), who would rather behead Algren
instead of letting him loose in the village. But Katsumoto wants to keep Algren
alive to "learn the enemy". Not surprisingly, Katsumoto is
conveniently English-capable.
The really big contrivance with "The Last
Samurai" is its refusal to acknowledge that people are not black and white,
and that a situation like Japan's emergence onto the world stage after 100s of
years of isolation can't properly be portrayed as simply "village life
good, city life bad". But if complex themes aren't the movie's forte, it
also has some problems with characters. Tony Goldwyn's Colonel Bagley is so
villainous you just know he's going to get skewered by a sword before the final
credits. As well, Masato Harada's Omura oozes slime. The film's ending even
ignores the fact that an Imperial Japan soon emerged to butcher their way
through the Pacific.
In a backhanded sort of way, I suppose "Samurai"
should get credit for turning what should have been an intricate study of a
volatile situation into a kindergarten read-along. The film does make up for
some of its lack of depth with stunning photography by John Toll ("The
Thin Red Line"). The film never struggles with the visuals, and that's
a big plus in its corner. But although "Samurai" has the look and feel
of an epic, there is something grounded, even constrained, about it that keeps
it from becoming fully breathtaking.
"Samurai's" story definitely lends itself to
major battle scenes. There are two battles, and the first one, in a forest, ends
much too quickly. The final battle goes on for about 30 minutes. They're all
well stage, and Zwick employs some CGI to accentuate the ferocity of Samurai
battle, including a lot of CGI arrows finding their mark. But while the battles
are realistic and brutal, this isn't "Braveheart",
which may be surprising considering all the swords hacking away.
"The Last Samurai" is a good movie. At 2 hours
and 30 minutes it has enough time to explore its main characters with nuance (or
at least, the good guys). Unfortunately every scene that doesn't take place in
the village, or involve people who doesn't live in the village, rings false. One
almost wishes Bagley had a mustache to twirl, and that Omura should be twirling
his.
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