47 Ronin looks great. The costume design alone is rich, magical and utterly Oscar-worthy. But then, Bad Grandpa can also chuck “Academy Award nominated” on its marketing materials, and we’d all still know it’s rubbish. Same for this movie. It’s a semi-mystical “inspired-by-a-true-story” tale of a bunch of pompous, honor-bound, humorless Japanese folk who can only save themselves from themselves with the help of a white dude. It never really engages or gets off the ground, and we gave up about 2/3rds of the way in.
Inspite of the the occasional Japanese tracking shot, 47 Ronin filmed in Budapest and in studio in London, hence…