I was never invited to a screening of 47 Ronin prior to its Christmas Day release and, to my knowledge, the majority of critics around the US were similarly ignored. This is, and isn’t, a surprise considering the majority of the press surrounding the feature has focused on its troubled production and ballooning budget, which is being reported as $175 million while everything suggests it was nothing short of at least $225 million or so. No matter, a film isn’t defined by the amount of money spent to make it, but instead the end product. However, when a studio is unwilling to even screen a film for critics it says something about its quality and Universal isn’t exactly a studio known for hiding its films, no matter how bad they may be.
I have no personal interest in seeing 47 Ronin in theaters, but I am interested in hearing some thoughts on the film. I can’t really trust the 13% rating at RottenTomatoes seeing how I assume it is largely made up of reviews written by critics that paid to see it and most likely paid to see it just so they could talk bad about it. I’m more interested in hearing the thoughts of the audience that paid to see it, hoping to see something fun and entertaining and whether or not it lived up to those expectations.
I’ve been meaning to watch Kenji Mizoguchi‘s 1941, two-part original The 47 Ronin on Hulu for the longest time as I expect it will be a telling of the historical event more to my liking, but I also expect I’ll be receiving a Blu-ray review copy of this latest effort starring Keanu Reeves and am ready for your reviews.
Head down to the comments and have at it, I await your thoughts… Convince me one way or another to see, or not see Carl Rinsch‘s feature directorial debut.
