47 Ronin (PG-13)
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This came out in 2013, but I didn't see it until 2023. It did poorly with critics, and despite making a fair amount of money at the box office, it failed to recoup its budget, so it's considered a pretty big bomb. I think that's a shame, because I liked it. It was a bit tricky deciding where to put my review. It's very loosely based on a true story, too loosely for me to put it under "true story". There's too much fantasy for me to consider it a "period piece" but not quite enough for me to file it under "fantasy". It's not really a martial arts movie, or a war movie. So ultimately I went with "action", though I feel like it could also be considered sort of a drama.

Anyway, it's set during Japan's Edo period, in the 18th century. A teenage half-Japanese, half British boy named Kai is found by a daimyo named Lord Asano, the ruler of Ako, who takes him in. Kai befriends Asano's daughter, Mika. The story flashes forward to when Kai is an adult (now played by Keanu Reeves). He is disdained by Asano's samurai, who think of him not just as a "half-breed" but possibly a demon (or possibly raised by demons, before Asano took him in). He and Mika are in love, but Kai keeps his distance, emotionally, because he considers his position unworthy of her. One day the Shogun (Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa) visits Ako, as does a daimyo named Lord Kira, who has a shape-shifting witch (Rinko Kikuchi) as a concubine. She casts a spell on Asano that makes me believe Kira is raping Mika, so he attacks Kira in his sleep. Because of this crime, the Shogun sentences Asano to commit seppuku (kill himself). He also gives control of Ako to Kira, and declares that after a one-year mourning period for her father, Mika will have to marry Kira. He banishes all of Asano's samurai, who are led by a man named Oishi (Hiroyuki Sanada), making them ronin. Kira has Oishi thrown into a pit, where he remains for about a year before being released.

After his release, Oishi sends his son, Chikara, to assemble the ronin and wait for him while he goes to free Kai, who had been sold into slavery. Together, Kai and the 47 ronin plan to kill Kira as revenge for the death of Asano, and to prevent him from marrying Mika. However, the odds are very much against them, and even if they succeed, they know they'll all die anyway, because the Shogun had ordered them not to seek revenge. Disobeying him means they'll have to commit seppuku, themselves, and that's if the Shogun decides to show mercy. (They could just be executed as common criminals, without the honor of seppuku). So we know that the movie can't have an entirely happy ending, no matter what. And... I'm leaving out a bunch of details, some of them involving fantasy elements and some more realistic. But I will say the ending is as good as could be hoped for, under the circumstances. And I thought all the action and drama were good. In fact, I don't believe there's anything particularly bad about it. It's still not truly great, but I'd definitely say it's better than critics give it credit for.

Followed by "Blade of the 47 Ronin"