47 Ronin” from 2013 is considered one of the biggest box-office flops since the turn of the millennium. Nevertheless, Universal commissioned a sequel to the martial arts-fantasy spectacle with Keanu Reeves – which, after a slight delay, will soon find its way to us.
“47 Ronin” had a production budget (without marketing!) of 175 million dollars, but the mix of martial arts fireworks and fantasy spectacle only brought in 152 million dollars in the end. Including all expenses, this meant that Universal Pictures was left with the full 175 million dollars that the film cost. A good decade later, “47 Ronin” is still considered one of the biggest cinema flops after the turn of the millennium. But that didn’t stop the studio from making a sequel.
“Blade Of The 47 Ronin” recently celebrated its US premiere – both on streaming provider Netflix and on DVD and Blu-ray. Here in Germany we still have to be patient, but now the sequel finally has a German release date. “Blade Of The Rose” will be released on 26 January 2023 for home cinema:
Universal is releasing the film directed by actor and martial artist Ron Yuan, known among other things from “The Paper Tigers”, here in Germany directly on DVD and Blu-ray as well as video-on-demand – and uncut with an FSK-18 rating. In principle, this is good news at first. But considering its origins, you’d better not approach the direct-to-video actioner with false expectations. The similarities with the bombast predecessor are limited…
“BLADE OF THE 47 RONIN”: WAS IT WORTH THE WAIT?
A full nine years after the box office disaster “47 Ronin”, the samurai saga is thus being expanded once again. Why exactly, however, is hardly clear to the author of this article. He has already seen the film and finds: “Blade Of The 47 Ronin” has little to do with “47 Ronin” – and on top of that it is direct-to-video standard fare, the kind we get served up month after month.
Fans of fast-paced action flicks can enjoy some nice action choreography and a charismatic leading actress here and there. But beyond that, the visuals of this unfortunately rather uninspiring film are limited. Nine years later and then a film like this? No, it wasn’t worth the wait.
WHAT “BLADE OF THE 47 RONIN” IS ABOUT
300 years after his ancestors were killed by one of the legendary 47 Ronin, the evil sorcerer Yurei (Dan Southworth, “The Doorman”) is out for revenge. Not only does he want to destroy all the descendants of the samurai, he also wants to unite the two halves of the powerful Tengu sword to become invincible.
The American Luna (Anna Akana, “Jupiter’s Legacy”) is the last heiress he manages to track down, but the good Lord Shinshiro (Mark Dacascos, “John Wick 3”) takes her under his wing. Together with the ronin Reo (Mike Moh, “Once Upon A Time In Hollywood”) he wants to train the young woman. But she has no idea of her importance in the centuries-long war…
