Review of The Last Samurai (2003) by Harry W — 17 Oct 2013

The Last Samurai was actually recommended to me by a karate instructor under the pretence that it would invite me to do karate. Although I didn't walk out of it with the same inspiration that he felt, I did walk our having enjoyed a thoroughly good film. The Last Samurai didn't inspire me to do karate. It made me proud to be a karate student.

The Last Samurai is in fact an inspiring tale, it just has some issues along the way.

One of them is that the plot isn't incredible. The story about fighting for the enemy has been told before in better ways such as in Dances With Wolves and in Avatar in inspirational manners, except that in The Last Samurai there is an imbalance between political issues and the story relating to the upcoming battle. The Last Samurai doesn't do the finest job of clarifying what the war is about or what any of the issues are, so the background to the story and political contexts aren't as sensible as appropriate for an epic film.

I watched The Last Samurai at a time in life where I had come into several conflicts, and I learned so much about honour through the samurai beliefs of Bushido overnight that I instantly cleared my head and resolved everything without skipping a heartbeat. It reinvigorated my passion as a karate student and gave me a new set of values to abide by as a person, and when a film does that you know it has to be good.

The Last Samurai isn't just good because of the effect it has on the viewer, but as an American film it actually has a deep and meaningful understanding of what Bushido is all about, and therefore what it means to be a samurai. It follows the real heart of the beliefs and goes into a strong understanding as to what it means to be a samurai, and it goes very well in depth.

It also had some of the coolest action ever. The well choreographed fight sequences and war battles are absolute exemplary in visual quality and entertainment value, and have such an exceptional aesthetic look since The Last Samurai benefits from incredible cinematography, excellent costume design and some beautiful locations combined with unforgettable imagery from the production design. Edward Zwick direction is excellent and he truly has a strong understanding for Bushido.

Tom Cruise gives one of the best performances of his career in The Last Samurai. In one of his finest hours, Tom Cruise puts his limited acting skills to the test and comes out shining on the other side with a character holding a convincing burning desire and passion for the way of the samurai. His articulation of words is intense and strong, with a rich delivery and real sense of morality and strength behind them. Tom Cruise really is The Last Samurai.

But benefitting from his Japanese internationality and natural acting talent, Ken Wantabe secures an Academy Award nomination with his excellent performance. Ken Wantabe perfectly captures the passion of a samurai warrior with all the values of Bushido without failing for a second. He is consistently strong and his performance is deep and meaningful; and his finest work so far.

Timothy Spall is also a memorable screen presence and boasts a fine performance, and essentially the entire supporting cast fails to ever let The Last Samurai down.

So The Last Samurai has premise flaws, but it's exploration of samurai culture and production values are impeccable.