Blade of the 47 Ronin (2022) User Reviews

25 minutes and I'm bored already

[dancurtis-info · 4/10 · 29 November 2022]

This should not be a "sequel" at all, it is not worthy in the slightest. 47 Ronin was a great film, this 'sequel' is a disservice. Starship Troopers 2 was a better sequel to the original than this -- and thats not saying much.

Blade is totally uninspiring, boring, not sure why I am still watching. For now its on the "watch a bit more of it later" roster; movies that take me 3 or 4 days to finish. Something to have running while I fall asleep.

Look at it this way, I'm 25 minutes in before I decide "you know what? I'm going to look up the rating in imdb before I continue at this point." Just wanting to make sure I'm on the same page as everyone else. With a 4.7 right now, it appears we are in agreement.

The acting was ewww

[edwards_trina-560-690634 · 5/10 · 2 November 2022]

The acting was horribly distracting. There might have been 1 or 2 good actors, but they couldn't save the plot AT ALL!!! The CGI blood was also bad. Master Shinshiro (I think his name was), is obviously one of the better actors. I'm very upset none of the females were good at acting. The choreography was good but could have been better executed. I didn't watch the other Ronin movie with Reeves, but I hope it was waaay better than this one. I'm trying to figure out how it was in Netflix top ten . I guess if your a lover of fighting in movies, you might enjoy it. The problem wasn't their slow movement, but that they were so slow, it looked like they were acting it out. Very few scenes were executed well. I would never recommend to anyone to watch. EVER!!!

It Wanted to Be Good......

[smp1227 · 4/10 · 6 December 2022]

Thought this was going to be a good martial arts movie but it just didn't get there. Acting was okay but some real corny parts. When you think of martial arts movies, you think of respect and honor. The character Omani was pretty annoying. She didn't do as she was told and lacked discipline. There was a fight scene which was a practice and the fighting was poor. Clearly did not make them look like elite killers. The positive was having Dustin Nguyen and legend Mark Degascos in a movie together. Overall disappointing considering how decent the first one was. Probably should have rewatched the first one.

Ugh

[bbbalson · 2/10 · 8 November 2022]

What happens when you take a decent movie about Japanese lore and try to make it a John Wick, girl power knock-off? This inane piece of garbage where John Wick is actually mentioned. I gave it two stars because the fight scenes were tolerable, unlike the writing, acting and dialogue. This is a horrible grab for views using a popular movie. If you feel the need to watch, just go in knowing that there is nothing really redeeming about it and could be entertaining if you are doing other stuff and only pay half attention to it. There are better things to watch on Netflix if you want a strong female herion.

Disappointing!

[tkdlifemagazine · 3/10 · 26 October 2022]

I know the 47 Ronin is not considered to be a good movie; however, I am a fan. While imperfect, there are certain elements of the filmmaking and storytelling that were memorable. This film lacks most, if not all of those elements, and is hardly a sequel to the Keanu Reeves 2013 film. It reminds me of a film styled more after the Wu Assassins movie, than the Reeves story of 47 Masterless Samurai that defend their honor in a battle with evil and magic. This movie has some good elements but it is corny and visually very low budget. The CGI blood is too unrealistic for my taste. The characters too silly. I do like some of the marital arts and I do like some of the stars of the film, particularly the lead female star. I tried to look at this as a stand alone to see if it might fare better, but, sadly, it did not. If you are not a martial arts movie fan I would deduct an additional star.

I fell asleep

[sabrakittycat-788-697886 · 2/10 · 13 November 2022]

I'm all for a good Asian martial arts movie. Even if it is cheesy or campy. This was neither good nor campy. The acting was terrible, script was cringy, music choices didn't give me the feels, stunts were meh, characters were flat and plot was so soupy in that it would seep through a slotted spoon. The best thing I can say about this movie is the set design and perhaps the one-liner calling Mark Dacascos' character a "John Wick freak" which is hilarious as his character IN John Wick 3 was fanboying John Wick hard!

Admittedly I am not familiar with the storyline from previous renditions of the 47 Ronin so perhaps I missed a nugget of authenticity but this movie was awful. I say skip it and watch .... Anything else.

Despite the headscratching nature of Blade of the 47 Ronin's existence, I can't deny it's entertaining as a B-level action film.

[IonicBreezeMachine · 6/10 · 25 October 2022]

Set in the not too distant future in Budapest, Hungary, the ancient clans of Japanese Samurai continue to operate in the shadows of society on a global scale as they did in Feudal Japan. Yurei (Dan Southworth), a descendant of the witch Mizuki who was an adversary of the 47 Ronin, sets his sights on acquiring the Witch Blade and Warrior Blade so he can form the Tengu Blade and wipe out the Samurai for good. As the Samurai lords meet to discuss the rising threat, it is learned only a descendant of the 47 Ronin may wiled the blade that will defeat ancient evil as dictated by the prophecy, but with the death of Lord Arai (Chris Peng) at the hands of Yurei the bloodline is seemingly ended, until Lord Shinshiro (Mark Dacascos) suggests the possibility there is another descendant in the American born Luna (Anna Akana) who has come to Budapest to claim the sword willed to her by Arai. Shinshiro's niece and onna-bugeisha, Onami (Teresa Ting), enlists the help of Ronin and friend Reo (Mike Moh) in tracking down Luna and after saving her from Yurei's henchman begin the task of introducing her to the world of Samurai and convince her to embrace her destiny.

Blade of the 47 Ronin is the latest release from Universal's direct-to-video label Universal 1440 which specializes in mining assets owned by Universal for production of direct to video genre films (Tales from the Hood 2&3, Dragonheart 3-5, etc.) with their work varying from decent timekilling fare to absolute trash like Welcome to Sudden Death and Woody Woodpecker the movie. The fact that 2013's 47 Ronin got a sequel (even a direct-to video sequel) is certainly surprising as 47 Ronin was one of the biggest bombs released to theaters that year after going through a troubled production which resulted in the director having a nervous breakdown. However, it's important to note that 47 Ronin was the last film Keanu Reeves was in (as a supporting player despite being plastered on the poster) before Reeve's career spectacularly re-ignited thanks to the success of John Wick and making Reeves as popular as he was in the 90s with The Matrix. With that new success it stands to reason his fans probably helped 47 Ronin eek into "break even" territory with rental and home media sales which gave Universal enough confidence for this follow-up. Directed by martial artist/stunt choreographer Ron Yuan, the movie ditches any pretense of "traditional" trappings the original film attempted and instead goes into full on genre bending insanity as the film plays like a mixture of John Wick, the Scott Adkins' Ninja films, and even some sprinkling of Star Wars mixed in to create some colorful and entertaining action nonsense.

Thanks to the 300 year time jump the film takes with its quasi-future establishment, Blade of the 47 Ronin largely ditches the dour and fatalistic tone of the first film that ended with all of the 47 Ronin (save for one) committing seppuku to regain their honor and goes instead for more of a comic book noir fantasy approach to the material but with some humor mixed in so it takes itself far less seriously than its predecessor did. The movie looks pretty good for a direct-to-video film with some nice looking costumes, colorful visuals, and on point choreography to the action scenes (not surprising given it's directed by a veteran stunt coordinator) but it does take a while to introduce the audience to this world as the first act of this movie has a LOT of exposition to get through that's pretty confusing and with how many names, macguffins, and rules are established it can feel overwhelming especially since our protagonist does show up to fill the position for a good 20 minutes or so.

Once the movie does move past the burdensome exposition the movie finds its footing thanks to a solid ensemble of performers with the likes of Anna Akana, Teresa Ting, Mike Moh, Chris Pang, and Mark Dacascos making for fun and engaging presences in the film who have some great chemistry with one another in both performances and fight sequences. The movie certainly delivers on the fight sequences and they are a sight to behold with these fluidly choreographed sword fights with waves of Ninja deliver with high energy and intensity. The only real shame with the fight scenes is the usage of CGI blood and gore because it does take you out of the movie a little bit, especially when you consider all the great spatter and gore artists working in the industry today that could've really added that extra "something" to these sequences, but with the nature of the industry being about cutting time spent on the project, it's understandable how much pressure there is to deliver these things "on schedule". Another criticism I had was in Dan Southworth's Yurei as our antagonist and I honestly wasn't really that impressed by him in the role, while Southworth does have experience in action such as Power Rangers: Time Force playing the Quantum Ranger, his fight sequences here feel very stiff and restrained and he's also not that intimidating in his performance either.

Despite the baffling nature of its existence at all, Blade of the 47 Ronin does its job in delivering colorful action nonsense in entertaining and efficient measure. Some of the opening exposition is a bit unwieldly, and the CGI blood and a not all that intimidating antagonist are a little disappointing, but for a movie that didn't really need to exist I'm honestly kind of glad it does.

This movie doesn't deserve the name 47 ronin

[ajaipershad · 1/10 · 28 October 2022]

What a horrible follow up to a classic. I turned this move off half way through and watch the original. This movie did the original no justice. I wish they did better. No honor In this movie.

The action scenes were sub-par, the acting felt very scripted, the actors / actress has no real interest. This move did. Not pay tribute to the samurai tradition but instead made it a joke.

I can't understand why Netflix would give this the name of such a legendary movie and produced such a horrible story line.

Please stop remaking amazing movies and not doing them justice.

If I was a ronin I would sacrifice my life while watching this.

Live action anime

[rich7354 · 6/10 · 9 November 2022]

It's campy, it's cliched, it's corny, and it's fun. The key to watching this movie is to not take anything seriously. It's filled with just about every martial arts trope there is, and that just adds to its charm.

The basic plot (if you want to call it that), is that a magic using "witch" will wipe out all the samurai remaining in the 21st century unless he is killed by a descendant of the 47 ronin. Pretty thin, but it sets up the story for lots of cheesy dialog, and copious amounts of martial arts mayhem. If you sit back and just go with the flow the movie is enjoyable (but not great by any stretch of the imagination), and a fun way to pass a couple of hours.

Lots of Action - Stupid Story

[scotttd · 5/10 · 26 October 2022]

If you like your plot thin and your action intense (meh) this is the movie for you. The fighting within the main characters wasn't that bad at all. But when fighting the many many evil ninja henchmen, this was ridiculous.

SPOILER ALERT - Really?! You can walk around Budapest with a sword and no one says anything? No cops? This 'live action' flick would have been better as a cartoon. The only reason I give it 5 stars are the HOT female characters and as I said, better fight scenes among the principle characters. Other than that, and with so many better action movies out there, this was class A STUPID. Why it's called a sequel to the 47 Ronin with the Keanu Reeves movie is beyond me. However there is one very small portion of a scene on a train where one of our good guys does an Indiana Jones move.

Entertaining, it gets better as it goes on

[andrewcoll-58306 · 8/10 · 7 November 2022]

I actually liked this movie. The dialogue is whedonesque (yeah I know, but he was a great writer) although it could have benefited from tighter delivery. The martial arts started off bad but gets better as the movie progresses. The training montage is a bit silly though. There are a couple of plot twists toward the end, which are not too predictable after a long day at work. Don't expect an Oscar winner and you wont be disappointed. I originally started out watching it because of the lead actress, Anna Akana is a YouTube presenter I watch. It got off to a bad start but after an introduction scene (you'll know it if you watch it) I thought "ha ha, yeah I'll keep watching this", and I'm glad I did.

There can only be one (Blade)

[kosmasp · 7/10 · 18 July 2023]

No pun intended - and no connection to the Marvel Blade of course. Maybe it was intended after all you say? Come on - let's pretend it wasn't ok? Also if you think that is silly - well the movie is upping and doubling down on silly. You have to really like the sense of humor it does serve you - especially from one of the main characters. Fish out of water - and not ready to accept responsibility.

Luckily you have Mark Dacascos and others to guide her ... will it be enough though? Not just for the movie and its bad guy, but also for you and your viewing pleasure? Suspend your disbelief and enjoy the action - which is well choreographed (considering the budget this probably had, maybe even more than decent, do not compare it with ... let's say John Wick - not even though it does have a joke about it - one that is even funnier considering Dacascos is in one of the Wicks ...)

Devastating

[tristansanders · 1/10 · 27 October 2022]

Couldn't get past 30mins of the movie, so far I can tell in my own words this movie is a disrespect to the 47 ronin. I was looking forward for this movie and devastated to how it turned out, there's no heart and soul in the movie, no creativity just trash to be honest. The first 47 ronin was a masterpiece had everything to make u want and to learn more about the culture and to teach you as well. This movie looks to basically fool you into thinking you will get the same satisfaction but actually is the complete opposite. Also not to mention it looks very cheaply made. I would recommend not to watch especially if the original means something to you deep down.

This was pretty bad

[alundil-65105 · 3/10 · 1 December 2022]

B level movies are fine when you're in the mood for that kind of camp. However, this was not a "good" B movie.

The special effects were fine for "B" tier movies. At times eye-rolling, but conveyed the message.

The choreography was overdone, which to be honest is on brand for "B" movies.

The reason for my 3/10 rating was the multiple instances of inconsistency through scenes in which injuries would disappear from one cut to the next. There was a point where Reo slashed a bad guy across the chest, and after a cut there was no injury or blood.

The most egregious, though, was the backpack carried by the Luna. That bag, with the sword, was stolen by Hana after killing Dash. And yet, a scene later Luna is at the train station with the bag without the sword.

This movie had numerous instances like this, as well as a few moments where it seemed like you could see crew (or someone just watching) on the periphery just outside of the scene.

Just bad. I didn't have a lot of expectations going into this, however I had to fast forward to the final battle involving the 3 main young characters remaining alive and the villian, Yurei, who fought with about as much energy and enthusiasm as Steven 'me want the punani' Seagal. Which ended with, possibly, the most boring flying decapitation strike to ever fall off of the storyboard and miss the cutting room floor.

Nothing to do with 47 Ronin

[pacep214-205-664569 · 2/10 · 29 October 2022]

If you go into this as a martial arts movie, one might enjoy it. The fight scenes are on point, acting B grade at best, cheesy at most times. But to link this to 2013's 47 Ronin is a joke, a lot of exposition about the legacy but no flashbacks of the story or characters. What if I had never seen it? Better served just saying it was a family dynasty thing. This is just another ruined property by Netflix.

It's your typical find the person with the thing to stop the other group from destroying us or the world. The old traditions clashing in the new world, blah blah blah. The actors even play with a little 4th wall break when Luna tells Shinshiro "she doesn't need the protection of a John Wick fan boy" referring to his character Zero from JW3. All the teen angst is tired schlock by lazy writers. They have to do better, especially if they want to raise prices.

To each their own in finding joy in this but it's nothing getting upset about. See it for yourself, but know it is Not related to its name sake, only by the characters mentioning it over and over to try and convince the viewers. More likely themselves.

I'm direct descendant to Kimono Ronin Warriors. This movie insult to my ancestors.

[Top_Dawg_Critic · 4/10 · 30 October 2022]

Yes, you read that right, and it's about as funny and cheesy as this sequel to the original 2013 47 Ronin film with Keanu Reeves. Even Reeves is probably shaking his head watching this. There is no comparison between the original and this mess.

This film is the result of millennial actors thinking they can become filmmakers by coming up with a Gen Z version of 47 Ronin. This was all just cringeworthy dialogue and attempts at humor, and I'll emphasize Attempts. The directing by Ron Yuan was all over the place with a few decent choreographed fight scenes, but even those just dragged out unnecessarily. The slow-mo shots and the two-finger steeple witchcraft move just contributed to the amateur-hour directing. Even the overdone gore-effects were laughable and cheesy.

All the acting felt fake or forced, I'm sure due in part by Yuan's failure to direct his cast properly, and most of the lead characters were just annoying and cringe to watch. The ninjas in grey tracksuits and hoodies wearing a tactical harness was the biggest joke of all. I guess the costume department didn't understand the assignment - ninjas wear all black.

The entire 106 min runtime felt much longer - even with the occasionally adequate pacing. You'd think by having three writers, at least one of them could give us something creative. Instead, it was all teeny-bopper dialogue, with a cheesy predictable story that was all style and no substance. This should not be called a sequel to the first film, because the only things they have in common, is the Budapest location and the use of the term Ronin. That's it.

Highly Entertaining! Punches way above it's weight class.

[redbaron-86192 · 6/10 · 16 January 2023]

I'm not really a fan of this genre of film; but, have always enjoyed Mark Dacascos, so I thought I would kill some time tonight and watch it with very low expectations. What a pleasant surprise! A terrific tale of good vs evil with very good character development, a decent plot and performances by younger actors that rose to the occasion. I think the veteran actors must have brought out the best in the younger stars, because they really brought their A-game. Just a well-balanced, albeit predictable, action film that checked all the right boxes. No one is going to win an Oscar here; but, this film punches way above it's weight class and doesn't disappoint. Nicely choreographed action sequences that are not over-the-top (if you can ignore the magic powers of the head "witch") or too drawn-out or too gory. A satisfying ending for the characters that were developed fully enough for us to care about.

Altogether well-worth a couple hours of time.

Trash

[sarahgrayson-75049 · 1/10 · 30 October 2022]

This movie is terrible... there was no effort in the acting at all, it was super corny! The first one that was made is amazing! This one was disrespectful to the first one lol that's how bad this movie is! Just look at how great the acting is in the first one & then watch this one, super disappointing. If your going to make a movie put some effort behind the acting because this was terrible. A lot of the acting was stuck up and it was really annoying because I think there should've been more humbleness in the acting, more effort & meaning behind the acting! Y'all could've actually tried but there was no good effort in this movie sadly & the fight scenes were super corny too.

Guns Don't stop magic

[nogodnomasters · 6/10 · 7 November 2022]

The film takes place in that ancient oriental city Budapest which does have the word Buddha in it, almost. They is a prophecy that evil will be destroyed by a descendant of the 47 Ronin and only by the Tangu sword which consists of two parts, the witch sword and the warrior sword. Yurei (Dan Southworth) is the leader of the witches and has been killing all the descendants like King Herod so the prophecy can not be fulfilled. No one knows the whereabouts of either sword. A prophet (Nino Furuhata) claims he knows of the last Ronin, a streetwise potty mouth New Yorker named Luna (Anna Akana) who happens to be in Budapest to sell her unknown Daddy's sword. Her appearance causes chaos and fighting. She is reluctant to believe or join the group of samurai good guys. The worse thing that happens is the bad guy gets the sword and kills all the samurai. It is not as if someone took top secret documents out of the White House to a resort that reveals the names of operatives.

The plot was okay. The dialogue needed work. I liked all the F-words our pretty lady dropped and her attitude. It had a comedic effect.

Guide: F-words. No sex or nudity.

Could have been much better, also could have been much worse.

[thatslyfox · 3/10 · 27 October 2022]

The original 2013 film 47 Ronin had astounding visuals but lacked a compelling story. Despite the original film not being a good film I enjoyed it. This film, Blade of the 47 Ronin, has none of those great visuals, and the story is far from gripping. Featured throughout this film is poor amateurish cinematography, uninspired and irrational writing, with poor acting. Teresa Ting's character Onami is the most captivating character in the film, the others for me were forgettable. The stunt team absolutely carried this film, they did a great job with the fight scenes throughout and was the only reason I watched it through. That said, I hated the fake CGI blood and would have rather had no blood at all. This seems like it would have been better as a fully fleshed out 10ish episode series rather than a film sequel.

loved the movie!

[daisyreviews · 9/10 · 28 October 2022]

I was waiting for this movie to come out and watched it as soon as I got a chance to.

I loved the movie, no idea why there's so many negative reviews. Nice plot, not too long, loved seeing Anna Akana here, especially with the bluish hair and the fighting scene. I remember seeing on her Instagram how she was training for the movie and flew to Europe, how excited she was to be part of this movie. Good fighting scenes, loved seeing how the prophecy worked out.

I'd suggest watching this movie if you have free time, you'll definitely not be bored. I, personally, enjoyed it.

Also didn't expect the turn at the end :)

B type movie with better production value

[alexkzapf · 6/10 · 20 November 2022]

This movie is entertaining. The acting could be better. The fighting sequences are well choreographed and executed. The story is not as jumbled as some people would have you believed. It is a continuation of the first movie set in modern times. The set pieces look higher in value then they should be. The cinematography is well done. Even during the fight sequences, the cameras keep track of everything. If you're a fan of these types of movies. You will like it. I think, over time, it will be appreciated more. I mean this next part, not out of hatred, but out of making people aware of something that is inherently wrong with Hollywood today. Unlike the garbage coming out of Hollywood the last 5 to 8 years, this movie knows what it is, and does not betray that. It is a lot like the John wick series, Top Gun, Terrifier, and so on. It gives us what we expect and doesn't try to fake virtue signal or subvert our expectations. I'm not saying, don't enjoy other shows and movies. Just be honest with yourself. Disney is the guiltiest of all corporations. I'm not saying this movie is perfect. Not by any means. But. I knew what to expect going into this and was not disappointed. Could have been better. But. I was satisfied. It is not on the quality of The Raid series with Iko. But. I didn't expect that. Overall. Very entertaining. Hope this review helps.

Ronin legacy is bad

[kcarter-23006 · 3/10 · 30 October 2022]

Okay. My hopes were shot after 45 minutes into this mess with the 47 Ronin title. Immediately I unliked this film on Netflix and wished my vision will never be subjected to such trash film work again.

Set in the current future. This storyline could have been great!! They had a background: samauri new and old. Witches and ninjas!! How can they messed this up?

There are way too many animae Mangas and stories out there with great writers that this film should have at least invested in.

The main character the last line was completely awful abd couldn't act her way out of a paperbag. Supporting cast completed this awful film. And. The seer. Now this character should have been much better written abd acted. Too bad. Gets a grade F.

I've seen worse. Not much worse mind you.

[iamtherobotman · 3/10 · 27 October 2022]

This was better than i thought it was going to be when i saw that the main star was Anna Akana. She's a very attractive Woman, but sadly for her, that's where her talents begin and end. I've seen a relative few of her YouTube videos, and i get the distinct impression she wasn't actually acting in this, but rather just showed up on set as herself. Her 'acting' is more wooden than a forest inhabited by marionettes, living in log cabins.

The rest of the cast were pretty decent in fairness, though the poor CGI blood was another let down. Action wise, some of the choreography for the fight scenes was well done, although the continual 'spinning' deaths of the 'Ninja' did grate a bit after the 5th kill.

I've certainly seen worse films, and as a way to kill an hour or so, there's definitely worse things i could've done. Would i recommend this to anyone? No. I'm sure though this will be a minor success, as Akana's fan boys/girls will blindly declare their love for this, further inflating the already preparing to pop ego of this Youtube 'personality'.

I Didn't like it

[tonyquainoojnr · 2/10 · 29 October 2022]

Trust me this movie was so boring and the story line so lazy dialogue less interesting and overall bad mixture the cast did their best though but I feel most of the problem is the writing and the style of the movie I noticed an attempt was made with the Slow Mo and close ups but trust me even the fights were boring the title actually drew me to it and the poster was also sick but it was like expecting an actual Lava volcano and being giving a paper volcano way below expectations I would advice they do better trust me this move really didn't do it for me and I'm still going through it the second time to understand what's up.