The Last Samurai (2003)

Directed by: Edward Zwick

Starring: Tom Cruise

***

I hear a lot of negative things said about the films of Edward Zwick. Almost as many negative things as I hear about Tom Cruise. I've seen enough of Zwick's movies to understand the criticisms towards him but in doing so, I also consider it to be somewhat unjust and hasty. Zwick's best effort is without argument 1989's Glory. More recently, he's given us Blood Diamond and The Last Samurai. The latter was one of my favorite films of 2003 and having now seen it recently, I can understand why it has remained that way until this point.

The simplest explanation is that with a 160 minute runtime, I've started this film without finishing it several times since buying it. By doing so, I've been continuously exposed to a great film with just a few easily overlooked flaws. The last hour or so however is like watching another movie. A movie that takes the underlying themes way too seriously and will stop at nothing to try and make you feel something. The first hour and forty minutes is a well-structured and motivated story about an American soldier captured by the last standing Samurai's in Japan. Captain Nathan Algren (Tom Cruise) grows to love and respect the Samurai and their ways, just as the Samurai, led by Katsumoto (Ken Watanabe), spared his life out of a respect for him.

The story is a rip off of Dances with Wolves, but so is the almighty Avatar, so that criticism is somewhat futile now. That aspect of the climax of this film isn't what hurts it. It was never in doubt that Algren would take up arms against his own people (which he doesn't really, he just fights with the Samurai against the more progressive Japanese soldiers whom he was once hired to train). From the point in the film when Algren tells his commanding officer Winchester Rep (William Atherton) that he'll train Japanese soldiers to fight for money but he'd gladly kill Rep for free is when we know that Algren will kill him at some point. Despite how cliche the line may be, it is effective in setting up the story. Rep is responsible for Algren's haunted past thus making him the antagonist of the film.

The Last Samurai isn't void of problems, even during its best moments. A poorly executed score can't ruin a good film but it can hurt it. I don't think the music is ever used effectively in this film. It never really seems to stop and its used consistently to say, "hey look at what you are seeing now, its it great?" or "...isn't it sad?". This ranges from intense action scenes and emotional breakdowns to simply looking at the vast Japan landscape, portrayed beautifully through the eye of Oscar winner John Toll's camera, (Oscar winner for Braveheart). In that first half of the movie, the poorly used music is masked by the quality of the film, but when it came time for the Samurai to fight, it was time to show how dedicated and honorable the Samurai are and Zwick felt like the best way to do this was to swell the music and spew unmotivated emotional jargen.

I mentioned the end of this movie was just begging me to feel something. Perhaps its watching Tom Cruise and a guy named Ken talk about the history of the Japanese Samurai and a culture Tom Cruise probably wouldn't understand any more than a real religion but depsite the fact that both Cruise and Watanabe are great in this movie, I just couldn't buy into what was going on. I don't want to call it an Americanization of another nations culture, but that's kind of what it seemed like.

I continue to stand by my opinion that Tom Cruise is a great actor. On top of that, he very rarely makes a bad movie. People find him annoying so that somehow translates to not considering him among some of the elite working today. Well, everyone thinks Sean Penn is annoying too but he's won two Oscars. As good as Cruise is, recognition and well deserved recognition for this film went to Ken Watanabe. This film was pretty much his introduction to the American audience and he's since become a familar face thanks to Christopher Nolan but The Last Samurai is by far his best work that I've seen. All that overly emotional and cultural speak that I referred to as over the top, doesn't hurt most of the film thanks to how good Watanabe is.

The Last Samurai isn't Zwick's best work but he does make entertaining epics if nothing else. There's a lot that's either unnecessary or poorly done in this movie but the fact remains that its a fun watch. Battle scenes are intense and everything between does what it has to in order to move the story forward without bogging you down too much with details. He keeps explanations short and too the point in order to get to the next scene that will thrill an audience. In short, I think he understands the films he's making and who he's making them for. I also think there's part of him that realizes he can do better and it shows when he suggests some extra details without really going into them.