Upon its release, 47 Ronin was called the worst film of 2013. But given that this is the same year that gave us After Earth, RIPD, Jack the Giantslayer, Sharknado, Only God Forgives, A Good Day to Die Hard and Grown-Ups 2 I immediately found that statement suspect and decided to give it a chance. I can't help but feel that, like The Lone Ranger (a far more problematic but not unwatchable movie), it was singled out for whatever reason (maybe because of Keanu Reeves being cast as a samurai) as a bad movie before it even rolled into theatres. I'm going to go against popular opinion but 47 Ronin is not the worst movie to come out of Hollywood in 2013. In many ways it feels like a truer movie that most of the big releases.

The story begins with a young boy named Kai rushing out of a haunted forest where he is found by the Lord Asano Naganori and allowed into the domain of Ako where he lives halfway between the peasants and the samurai. Japan is a caste-based society and the castes as a rule do not mix, though Lord Asano seems to be very tolerant of deviations, even going so far as to allow his daughter Mika to begin a relationship with Kai. Asano's head samurai Oishi (Hiroyuki Sanada) is less tolerant and is very prejudiced against Kai for several reasons, most of all for being a half-breed. Meanwhile Asano Nagonori's rival, Lord Kira, is plotting to take over Ako with the help of a witch named Mizuki (Rinko Kikuchi, seen earlier this year in Pacific Rim). Together they succeed in killing Lord Asano and disgracing Oishi. When Oishi is released and begins planning his revenge, he puts his prejudice aside and includes Kai in his plot.

Regardless of what the promotional material made you think Kai is not the main protagonist; that honour goes to Oishi who is at the centre of the narrative. Hiroyuki Sanada's performance grounds the movie and drives the plot with his wish to regain honour for his clan and avenge his master's death. He is a believable character in a world of wonder and fantasty. 

Kai, who is the underdog of the story, is something of a cross between your usual movie side-kick and an Obi-Wan as his knowledge of the supernatural becomes more helpful. Kai was raised by tengu (malevolent Japanese spirits) in the haunted forest but turned his back on their dark magic. He has kept this aspect a secret from his allies, though they suspected. This suspicion was a large factor in the samurai's disdain for him and his loyalty to Naganori lies in that the old Lord was not bothered by the possibility.

Some people have suggested that the movie would have been better if the characters hammed it up more and made it more campy but I disagree. One of the main faults of any fantasy movie is that once good actors appear on the screen they begin to ham it up and chew scenery with the ferociousness of a giant rat (see Jeremy Irons in Dungeons and Dragons for a text-book example). I appreciate it that the filmmakers gave gravity to the material, something that makes The Lord of the Rings movies stand out, as opposed say forgettable cash-ins like the Eragon movie.

One of the movie's strongest elements is that it's not wall-to-wall CGI but relies on it only when necessary. Much of the movie's hefty budget went into costuming, location-shooting, production design and acquiring a top Japanese cast. It doesn't try to show off its special effects as much as possible but rather gives us beautiful, well-shot visuals. It also takes time to set up the story. When the climax arrives it decides to first build actual tension before giving it over to endless extended action. With the exception of Kai's battle with the Witch Mizuki most of the battles are actual battles and not gratuitous CGI (with occasional exceptions).

But the movie is far from perfect. First of all there is the fact that a fantasy movie is built around an actual historical event and adding shape-shifting witches to an 18th century event would probably be like having giant mecha at the Battle of Blood River. This is not a significant problem as many books and movies (and Japanese anime) have been running on "alternate reality" takes on historical events for years. The (American) filmmakers show at times that they have deep knowledge of Japanese history and culture, so I have to assume that when the movie deviates from accuracy it is deliberate. And here it comes down to how far you, as a viewer, are personally willing to go with these deviations, particularly if you're knowledgeable about Japanese culture and tradition. Most negative reviews are based around "historical accuracy" arguments, but given that the filmmakers never pretended that this is historically accurate I'm willing to go with it with some reservation. You also get the feeling that the movie is shorter than intended. Shots from the trailers do not appear. One particular discrepancy is the character of Savage, a tattooed sailor played by Rick Genest who is tattooed like that in real life. He's prominent in much of the promotional material but has a role hardly bigger than 20 seconds. Did he have a bigger role in a longer cut? I guess we'll never know.

47 Ronin is not a deep epic in the tradition of Akira Kurosawa, nor was it intended to be. It is just an enjoyable adventure movie that probably deserved less flack than it got. It was not, like The Last Samurai, an attempt by Hollywood to understand a complex time in Japanese history but just something to enjoy for what it is.