BLADE OF THE 47 RONIN (2022)

BLADE OF THE 47 RONIN (2022)

Tagline: None. 

(Action, Drama, Martial Arts) [R]

If I do well in training, do I have to dress like Onami?

This is the sequel to 47 RONIN. This time around we are taken to modern day where secretive Samurai clans fight to the death. After the supposed last of the descendant of the 47 Ronin is killed by an evil witch named Yurei. He has a bunch of ninjas that do his bidding. The clans become concerned that the witch will be able to combine two halves of an ancient sword and use it to kill all the Samurai. Lord Shinshiro ends up finding Luna who is also supposedly the last descendent of the 47 Ronin. He lets Reo and Onami train her because she’s basically a selfish thief and a brat and really needs an attitude adjustment. To be honest, Onami isn’t much better, she’s also a brat. Can this unlikely girl be the key to the clan’s survival, or will the witch have his ultimate revenge, the annihilation of the clans?  

Luna ends up training with Onami and Aya who aren’t actually considered Samurai, they are actually Onna-bugeisha. They were female warriors that fought for Japanese nobles. I just thought this was interesting because the movie actually takes the time to point this out. 

This movie struggles with a lot of writing problems. For some reason, the writers felt it was going to be awesome to have the characters drop F-bombs like the goal was to cover a football field in 14pt font F’s. We also have one dude that for some reason is dressed like he should be fighting the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and not be anywhere near this movie. The lighting feels very much like it was done by a crew shooting a TV show, not a movie. I think the score was okay and at times pretty fun like during the train fight scene, but it had some low points. I should also say that none of the CGI moments are better than what someone with an iPhone could have done. We are talking old-school ASYLUM bad in that department. 

Acting wise when given a chance to show some range Anna Akana's performance just falls flat as Luna, but hey, she had a brief scene in ANT-MAN, so what do I know (I think she’s the chick in the glasses that tells Luis he needs to be more specific). Teresa Ting on the other hand has a strong outing as Onami. She hasn’t been in a ton of stuff just yet, but she kills this role. Mark Dacascos is decent as Lord Shinshiro, but it feels like this production wasn’t up to what he has to offer as an actor. If you want to see what good production can do with him involved, watch JOHN WICK: CHAPTER 3 – PARABELLUM. I did like Mike Moh as Reo. His performance isn’t overly amazing, but it’s fine for what this thing was. Mike is probably best known for a bad movie called ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD, but at least he got to play Bruce Lee. Chikako Fukuyama plays Aya. Aya doesn’t say much after the first few scenes, but this chick kills 20 ninjas in this movie alone. Ninjas are supposed to be super unkillable. 

In spite of how these characters start out, Onami actually ends up being my favorite character aside from Reo who is kind of the level-headed one of the group. I liked almost all of the fighting sequences. From that standpoint, this one was pretty cool. The rest is just not really worthy of the 47 RONIN name, but it’s also not what I would say is bad either. I have seen plenty of bad movies and this one is not that. What this movie does is bring up the question, who is the most awesome female martial arts character in cinema? Is it Onami (24 kills just in this movie), is it Aya, is it Gogo from KILL BILL? Is it Golden Sparrow from THE FORBIDDEN KINGDOM? Who's your pick?

Overall I actually enjoyed this one. I have to give it a 4 out of 7. It wasn’t nearly as bad as some of the reviews I have read. Then again, I am a sucker for most martial arts films where chicks are holding their own. Even remotely decent writing would have given this one a 5 out of 7.

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