this is such a rarity for me; for the first time, i'm spending my saturday night at home wif my family.. and my trusty pc! its a queer feeling (no pun intended) but it feels sort of funny. there's something definitely tragically amiss somewhere but for now, i'm not gonna rack my brain trying to figure out what it is; i shall just try to enjoy my new-found domestic tranquility. However, perhaps part of my discomfiture is attributed by my missing signifcant other who is away for the weekend... Dia balik kampong lah!! that therefore means that i'm technically a singleton for this current long weekend. instead of leaping with glee at my state of virtual liberty, i'm feeling pretty dismal somehow. anyway, i think it'll be great fun to have a rural get-away during the holidays because as a child, i've often envisioned myself merrily chasing chickens in the backyard of a kampong house, or sitting by the side of a coconut tree daydreaming as i stare across the choppy waters of the sea... *sigh*
Wadever lah duan duan~ by the way, i think chasing after chickens would be a lethal recreational activity today considering the fact that the bird flu virus is running rampant. LOL
anyhow, this is a review of the movie i caught at the theaters recently:
The Last Samurai
truthfully speaking, i cannot remember when was the last time i watched a movie headlined by the indomitable tom cruise. seriously, i hated the mission impossible franchise & avoided the big-budgeted commercial hollywood fodder which he churns out year after year like the plague.. (Oh yes.. i think i caught him last in Vanilla Sky but that was an impulsive watch which was mostly motivated by cameron diaz's star presence) Well, the Last Samurai IS a big-budgeted, commercial hollywood epic.. and it's really of epical proportions in every sense of the word; from the lavish cinematography to its cast of thousands. the story is simple enough & pretty predictable; tom cruise plays a disillusioned & alcoholic captain nathan algren who agrees to go to Japan to help train its military in the ways of modern warfare & thus enable them to subdue the last remnants of the samurai uprising led by Lord Katsumoto (Ken Watanabe). However, the latter was able to defeat algren's "modern" forces in a skirmish & captured the seriously wounded algren to learn more about his "western" enemy. While convalescing in the enemy's mountain village, algren learns to appreciate the samurai's bushido code of honor & way of life.. and even turns against the people whom he previously worked for.
like in all epics, the locations used are impeccably gorgeous and the battle scenes are breathtaking in sheer magitude which is surely commendable when compared to their CGI-infested counterparts in the LOTR finale. my favorite fight sequence has GOT to be the exhilirating ninja-surprise-attack-at-the-village-scene. Its worth every cent of your ticket price! and of course, i've always been a huge fan of sword-fighting movies... ;)
tom cruise is in fine form; he is predictably passionate in his performance and gravely stoic at all the right moments.. I must concede that there has always been an intensity to his acting which i always find to be abit disturbing. In an Oscar-nominated turn, Ken watanabe is the actor to watch for here; though it is his first time acting in an english-language feature, he looks pretty comfortable speaking in english and totally bereft of the laughable halting-speech patterns or affected accents demonstrated by his chinese counterparts in other hollywood outings. (compare with jet li in cradle 2 the grave, chow yunn fatt in the monk, jackie chan in the tuxedo...) Even more amazing is that watanabe is able to match tom cruise in both intensity & screen presence; he brings pathos & strength to an otherwise stereotyped character. Equally mesmerising in the small role of Taka, katsumoto's sister, is the japanese actress Koyuki. Her nuanced & poignant interpretation of the wife of the samurai whom algren killed in battle is nothing short of riveting.
now on with the bad; Like all hollywood epics, the Last Samurai often teeters on the brink of corniness be it in script or situation. fortunately, this is greatly ameliorated by its talented cast, especially the incredible ken watanabe who utters such trite fortune-cookie philosophies with unflappable credibility (eg. "A perfect blossom. You could spend your whole life searching for one, and it would not be a wasted life." ) And the movie is so maddeningly politically correct! From start to finish, the samurai are depicted as the good guys while the americans with their weapons of mass destruction are the villains; audiences are never given the opportunity to think otherwise. director tony goldwyn has sentimentalized the samurai to such a glossy polish that its almost impossible to believe such perfect individuals exist in this world. perhaps, this imbalance in his story-telling might have caused the Last Samurai to be grossly overlooked at this year's oscars...
Nevertheless, this historical epic is still a good enough watch for the average movie-goer. 3.8 - 4/ 5 stars!!!
