The Last Samurai (December 2/03)

There's absolutely no denying that The Last Samurai is one of the most impressive looking films to come around in a while. Every aspect of the movie's visuals - from the set design to the costumes - is virtually immaculate in its presentation, turning the film into a piece of Oscar bait more than anything else. The movie has "prestige project" written all over it, and while it's certainly not a bad movie, it's also not exactly tremendously entertaining either.

Set in the late 1800s, The Last Samurai stars Tom Cruise as Nathan Algren - a disillusioned soldier reduced to touring the country hawking rifles. His chance for redemption comes when a fellow soldier, Col. Bagley (Tony Goldwyn), offers Algren a job training Japanese recruits how to fight like Americans. But after he's captured by a group of Samurai warriors, lead by the enigmatic Katsumoto (Ken Watanabe), Algren begins to identify with their plight and eventually joins them in their fight against the Japanese army (which has been charged with the task of eliminating all the remaining Samurai).

It's a relatively simple story that's been stretched out to an occasionally excruciating two-and-a-half hours, when 90-minutes would have sufficed. The film's never boring, exactly, but it is often far more ponderous and deliberately paced than one would like. It has the air of a movie more designed to win awards than entertain, with Ed Zwick's graceful sense of style the most obvious indicator of this. The majority of shots look planned out to the extent that there's nothing organic about them; they have the spontaneity of a classical painting. This isn't a bad thing, necessarily; there have been plenty of films with a similar aesthetic that worked just fine (Forrest Gump for one). But the difference is, Zwick is so concerned with getting the atmosphere of 19th century Japanese society, he never really creates any characters worth caring about.

Because he's Tom Cruise, we're automatically rooting for Algren - but he's never developed to the point where we genuinely feel for his predicament. His arc is a relatively simple one - callous soldier experiences an epiphany and bonds with Samurai warriors - but we're nevertheless forced to endure countless sequences featuring Algren chatting with Katsumoto and his family. And while some of that stuff is interesting - helped in great part by Watanabe's fantastic performance - it finally gets to the point where enough is enough; we get it already.

Having said that, The Last Samurai is still worth seeing primarily for the performances and amazing combat sequences. About an hour into the film, there's a fight between the Samurai warriors and a group of ninjas that rivals anything in Kill Bill in terms of sheer coolness. And then there's the final battle between the Japanese army and the Samurai, which is gripping and involving in ways that everything preceeding it is not. But the film's denouement is overwrought and far more melodramatic than necessary, as though the filmmakers wanted to ensure we understand how important this story really is.

Though The Last Samurai is far from excellent, there are a lot of elements found within that warrant a recommendation. The performances, the incredible set design...it's all very impressive, but never quite adds up to a story that's particularly involving.