A broken outcast with a mysterious past goes up against a corrupt empire: Keanu Reeves in a Japanese historical drama that is more imaginative than factual.

Picture gallery

18th century Japan: "half-breed" Kai (Keanu Reeves) is taken in and raised by Master Asano Naganori. But Kai remains an outcast all his life and is treated like a slave by the samurai. When the master attacks Lord Kira using a witch’s trick, he is forced to kill himself with seppuku. This leaves the samurai without a master, making them ronin. Under the leadership of Oishi, Kai and the ronin swear revenge for their master.

The story of 47 Ronin is a popular Japanese legend about the samurai’s honor code. Director Karl Eric Rinsch, who has so far worked in advertising, expands his work to include demons, monsters and Keanu Reeves. The result will annoy not just historians, as the authenticity of the character Kai is exceptionally questionable. It’s as if Hollywood had William Tell slay a dragon on his way to kill Gessler and save his son Walter from the jaws of a yeti.