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The Last Samurai Movie Review

The Last Samurai is a 2003 period film directed by Edward Zwick and starring Tom Cruise and Ken Watanabe. It’s such a good, moving period piece.

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“The perfect blossom is a rare thing.

You could spend your life looking for one,

and it would not be a wasted life“

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Captain Nathan Algren is hired to train the Japanese army to fight a Samurai rebellion. He, however, ends up embracing the same Samurai culture which he was assigned to destroy. This is a perfect introduction to this particular period in history, which I personally did not know much about. And although the movie is clearly fabricated to the large extent, the core set of ideas and the major tides of change were very well portrayed.

There is much to be said about the Samurai or whether or not their motifs during this event were honorable and altruistic or selfish. Regardless, their portrayal as honorable and respected still was realistic as that is exactly how they were during the majority of Japanese history. The same goes for the ninjas who were anti-samurai basically. That sequence with the ninjas was fantastic and so grounded in reality.

The push for westernization is very well explored here as is the arrival of new technology and the difference between old ways of fighting versus the new ways. The east versus the west is generally very well explored, and I honestly found the depiction of Japan here very admirable and realistic while being fair and positive mostly at the same time. Buddhism, they way of living, the samurai code of honor etc. The movie is very nuanced and thematically rich.

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I found the end battle obviously very unrealistic in the main idea, but it ended plausibly at least. And I have to say that the entire ending is very moving, I was genuinely moved which I certainly did not expect as the film caught me off guard with its emotional resonance. Some did find the white savior angle problematic, but I honestly found the trope of the man killing a wife’s husband and then becoming close with her more troublesome as I absolutely despise that trope in film.

Tom Cruise is excellent as Algren. This is a further proof of how talented he can be as a dramatic actor, and it’s a shame that he chose a different, blockbuster career path as he would have certainly gotten an Oscar by now had he chosen differently. He is surprisingly terrific and believable here. But Ken Watanabe clearly steals the show from everyone else. He plays Katsumoto superbly, and he is very emotional at times. I loved the scenes between the two, and he entirely deserved his Oscar nomination.

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Everyone else is also pretty good in The Last Samurai, but those two are the standouts clearly. As for the costumes, they are splendid as is the action, which is very well executed through and through. The movie looks and sounds phenomenal with the direction also being quite solid. Some parts are less interesting than others, but most of the movie held my interest deftly.

The Last Samurai is a very underrated movie that has some obviously problematic plot beats in it, but it explores so well the westernization of Japan, the differences between modern and traditional warfare, East versus the West and the way of the Samurai. Ken Watanabe stole the show with a fantastic, deservedly Oscar-nominated performance. It’s a technically accomplished, surprisingly moving period piece.