Some of the fight scenes with Keanu were well shot and great to watch and first sight of the Giant Samurai is met with fascination and unease. The scenes which I can only describe as silk twirling through the air as the characters manoeuvred themselves was breathtakingly beautiful and will stay with me for some time to come. The witch smirking wickedly and her serpent like hair weaving through the air were also fantastic.

There was some great atmosphere in the woods, the town of the sword-smiths is beautifully dark and I enjoyed the journey into the Tengu demons to gain the magical swords. I will watch the film again, though not in 3D as I think it will come across much better on screen without it.

Ultimately there is a great concept here but it was lost in the delivery.

by Dee Munday Australian release 16 January 2014 For credits and official site details, see below Search Festivale for more work by the film-makers below. See also: The Matrix

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Just the facts: Title: 47 Ronin (2013) Written by: Chris Morgan and Hossein Amini (screenplay) Chris Morgan & Walter Hamada (screen story by) Directed by: Carl Rinsch Running time: 118 mins Rating: M The Players: Keanu Reeves, Ko Shibasaki, Official website: IMDb entry For session times of current films, use the cinema listings on the Movie links page. For scheduled release dates, see the coming attractions section. For more information about this movie, check out the internet movie database. For the latest additions to Festivale, check out the change history section.

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