Steampunk Granny's Review of 47 Ronin

                                                                

My post was originally featured on Biff Bam Pop, but it's been on cable again and I wanted to re-share my review. Enjoy!
I swear if my grandsons could move to Japan, they would…but until they can, they watch and read everything Japanese. When 47 Ronin opened on Christmas Day, guess who was dragged to the movies with them?
                                                                 

 
47 Ronin premiered in 2013 and is a fictional account of the forty-seven Ronin, a real life group of samurai in 18^th century Japan. This fantasy action film, which was produced by Universal Studios, was directed by Carl Erik Rinsch and stars Mr. Matrix himself, Keanu Reeves along with Hiroyuki Sanada, Ko Shibasaki, Tadanobu Asano, Min Tanaka, and Rinko Kikuchi as the witch. Did I like the film?

Plot

Kai (Keanu Reeves) the offspring of a British sailor and a Japanese peasant woman was left in the swamps to die; half breeds, especially illegitimate ones, being frowned on during that time period. He’s found and reared by some brutal mystical creatures resembling lizards.
                                                                  

Years later, the young Kai is taken in as a servant by the kindly Lord Asano (Min Tanaka) and his young daughter, Mika (Ko Shibasaki). Although Mika loves Kai, the samurai warriors that serve Lord Asano shun the half breed. The loudest objector to Kai’s presence on Lord Asano’s land is Oishi (Hiroyuki Sanada), the leader of Asano’s samurai.

The Reception

When news of an envoy of the Emperor is coming to Lord Asano’s home, a reception is arranged to honor Shogun Tsunayoshi (Cary-hiroyuki Tagawa). One of the guests invited is the evil Lord Kira (Tadanobu Asano) and his witch Mizuki (Rinko Kikuchi). Lord Kira wants Lord Asano’s land and his daughter as a bride and he will do everything in his power to obtain both.
                                                                         

With the aid of Mizuki, Lord Kira arranges a series of misfortunes to occur which not only has Kai sold into slavery, but shames Lord Asano in front of the Shogun. Lord Asano is forced to commit seppuku (formal suicide) and Mika obliged to marry Lord Kira at the end of the year. Lord Asano’s death leaves his samurai without a leader, and thus, they are now, Ronin. I guess it’s like a demotion, because the ex-samurai are chased out of town. Lord Asano’s lands are in ruins and his people are mistreated by the soldiers of Lord Kira. Oishi is thrown into a pit for one year. When he is released, Kira thinks Oishi is a broken man.

Mizuki

This lady would be perfect in a Disney movie as a wicked witch; quite nasty. She’s a shape shifter extraordinaire, be it spider or dragon.
                                                                  

She spends her time spying for Lord Kira or terrifying poor Mika who is held captive until the arrival of her wedding day.

Oishi

Honor is very important to the Japanese and especially to the samurai, who lived their daily lives under a strict code of loyalty, sacrifice, persistence and honor. Oishi is honor bound to restore the good name of his dead Lord. His first act after he’s released from the pit is to find Kai before searching for the other samurai. Kai leads the samurai to the dangerous swamps and to the mystical creatures that saved him when he was abandoned as a baby. These creatures don’t care too much for mankind, but at Kai’s insistence, they give the much needed weapons to the samurai for their battle against Lord Kira.
                                                              

Conclusion

I absolutely loved this movie. If you get a chance to watch it, please do. The acting was superb, the clothing and scenery a treat to the eyes and, although Keanu Reeves is the star, the story was really about Oishi and the other samurai. Mizuki is stunning as the evil witch/dragon. The film is a tribute to the samurai code of honor. 

Helix, True Detective and "The Walking Dead

                                                                    

 

 

                                                                    

If you’re a connoisseur of oddities and you need the latest "It" to add to your collection, why not make it heads? You don't have to be a Governor to collect human heads and you don't have to keep them in fish tanks

                                                                      

I’ve been hooked on Helix which you can catch on Friday nights on the Syfy channel. This science fiction thriller takes place in the Arctic and stars Billy Campbell, Kyra Zagorsky, Mark Ghanime and Hiroyuki Sanada as the mysterious Dr. Hiroshi Hatake.

                                                                   

 

I’m not quite sure if Dr. Hatake is really the bad guy or not, but like our departed governor from The Walking Dead, Dr. Hatake collects heads. Instead of fish tanks, Dr. Hatake keeps his collection hidden under the ice; headsicles, if you must call them something. On last night’s episode, he added the head of Constance Sutton played by the kick ass, ex-Seven of Nine, Jeri Ryan. I was sorry to see Jeri out of the show so soon…or is she?

                                                                           

True Detective

I can’t get enough of this show or the two actors of True Detective. Matthew McConaughey (Detective Rust Cohle) and Woody Harrelson (Detective Martin Hart) are two dysfunctional homicide detectives who are trying to track down a serial killer. They are so mismatched in personalities and beliefs, that I’m surprised that they haven’t killed each other, but this is exactly why this show works. We, the audience, are pulled into their private lives and even if we don’t like them, we find ourselves cheering for them.   

                                                                           

Fellow Biff Bam Pop writer and close friend, Glenn Walker, posted his review of the show here.  Please read his review and then catch up with the show on HBO. The next episode airs on Sunday at 9 p.m. but I’ll have to wait until Monday to catch up because I’m watching….

                                                                               

…The Walking Dead

Nothing keeps me from this show, not even vacations. Season four part two picked up with our friends of Team Prison, scattered by the now dead Governor’s attack on the prison. There is a lot of stuff going down and three new characters are now part of the cast.

                                                                                   

 If you want to know what’s happening to Rick and his merry gang of zombie slayers, then watch the show. You can catch up with my recaps on Biff Bam Pop. One word of warning…watch out for little Lizzie.
You have the scoop on good shows, now watch them and tell me what you think:)

Helix

 

                                                    

Thanks to a friend’s suggestion (thank you Stacey Wright) I started watching missed episodes of a new SyFy show, Helix. This is one hell of a great show. I’ve only watched the first four episodes so far, but I hope to catch up before Friday.

Plot

Helix is a Science fiction thriller that premiered on the SyFy channel in January. Where the hell was I that I missed this? Oh now I remember, I was doing the reviews on Dracula. Anyway, a team of scientists from the CDC are called in to investigate a breach at a research facility in the Artic. When Dr. Alan Farragut (Billy Campbell) and his team arrive at Arctic Biosystems, they are pulled into a life and death struggle to control an outbreak. There is just one itty bitty problem; the man in charge of the facility, Dr. Hiroshi Hatake (Hiroyuki Sanada) is holding the cards and he has all the aces.

                                                                          

Dr. Farragut must try to save his brother Dr. Peter Farragut (Neil Napier) who has been exposed to the infection.  The infection and the symptoms remind me of something right out of the XFiles.  It’s hard to tell who the bad guys are and the shocks keep you on the edge of your seat. There are 13 episodes and each episode represents a single day within the story.

                                                                         

Conclusion

Friday nights are now looking better than ever especially with these two well written and intelligent shows, Grimm and Helix. If I’m going to be snowbound in my house for the next few weeks, I might as well enjoy a night of good television. What are you watching?