Synopsis: An evil witch named Yurei, whose ancestor was slain by one of the 47 Ronin, has surfaced in modern day Budapest determined to have his revenge. Yurei seeks to completely destroy all samurai by uniting both halves of the powerful Tengu Sword. A prophecy claims only a descendant of the original 47 Ronin can wield the blade and defeat this great evil. The samurai are shocked when Lord Shinshiro identifies a streetwise New Yorker named Luna as the one who was prophesied. He charges ronin Reo and apprentice Onami with training Luna to be the hero they desperately need. With most of the samurai lords dead or missing, and a traitor hiding among them, the remaining warriors must summon all of their skills as martial arts masters to combat Yurei's mystic magic and fulfil their destiny. (107 Mins)

 

Views: Set in the beautiful city of Budapest, the crossroads between east and west where sword-wielding samurai seem to walk the streets without a problem, Blade Of The 47 Ronin plays as a belated sequel to the bigger budgeted 47 Ronin that starred Keanu Reeves. Taking place 300 years later, the film tells the tale of an evil witch named Yurei who has come to the city to seek revenge for his ancestor that was slain by one of the original 47 Ronin. But when he learns that there is one more descendant left to kill, Yurei finds himself up against the ronin and their disciples who must fight for their lives in order to stop the warrior witch!

 

Popular bit-player and voice actor Ron Yuan does a fine job in directing Blade Of The 47 Ronin. Younger brother to the equally talented and popular Roger Yuan – known for his roles in films such as Once Upon A Time In China & America, Shanghai Noon, Bulletproof Monk, and Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon: Sword Of Destiny, to name but a few – Ron started life in the industry back in the early 90s with roles in American martial-arts movies such as Don Wilson's Ring Of Fire 1 & 2, Vanishing Son 3 & 4, Double Dragon alongside his big brother and star Mark Dacascos, White Tiger with Gary Daniels, and a brief role in Andy Lau's underrated Ringo Lam film, The Adventurers. Over the years, Ron has went onto gain almost 170 credits to his name including appearances on numerous television shows and countless voice work. 2009 would see him direct a few short films, with his first feature-length gig coming in ten years later with the chance to direct Step Up China – a spin-off from the popular Step Up dance movies. While it wasn't as well received as he had hoped, it certainly didn't out him off and it's clear that a genre movie such as Blade Of The 47 Ronin is best suited to the man. As a director of 7 independent feature films, I have a soft spot for indie film productions, no matter what the budget, and have a great respect for what Ron Yuan and his team have done here – with their strengths definitely showing in the final third of the film...

 

Ron manages to pull together a half-decent cast for this martial-arts adventure, with the wonderful Mark Dacascos proving to be the biggest name of them all. I've long be a huge fan of this handsome and hugely underrated star from his early days in American Samurai, Only The Strong, and Double Dragon, to his greatest moments in Crying Freeman, Brotherhood Of The Wolf, and Steve Wang's incredible Drive, and have always championed him and his work in the cinematic world. Hot off the success of John Wick 3 and Wu Assassins, Yuan made a good move in getting Mark on-board which will hopefully help bring a bigger audience to this fun action flick. The brilliant Dan Southworth, who I first saw in the fun U.S. Seals 2, stars as the witch known as Yurei and although he doesn't really get to bust a move until the final showdown, the wait was definitely worth it. Of course, many would probably recognise Dan more-so for his role as Eric Myers, the Quantum Ranger, in Power Rangers Time Force. Joining him is another former Power Ranger, the handsome Yoshi Sudarso, who played Koda the Blue Dino Charge Ranger. In the run up to this production, Yoshi also appeared in the popular independent martial-arts film Paper Tigers and Brad Pitt's Bullet Train, as well as many fun fight filled shorts. Popular Vietnamese actor Dustin Nguyen, who has crossed paths with the director a number of times over the years, does a great job as Nikko and impresses once again in the action department. Chris Pang, from films such as Fist Of The Dragon, Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon: Sword Of Destiny, and Crazy Rich Asians, joins the team as does the charismatic Mike Moh who had his start in Jackie Chan's Rob-B-Hood, as well as impressing as Ryu in the Streetfighter web-movies and again as Bruce Lee in Tarantino's Once Upon A Time In Hollywood.

 

If there was one thing I really didn't enjoy about the film, it was the decision to put a gang of young girls as the main focus – played by the likes of Anna Akana, Teresa Ting, Chikako Fukuyama, and Luna Fujimoto. While they weren't awful for the most part and did a great job in the action department, I just felt that they took the film in a totally different direction – making Blade Of The 47 Ronin feel more like an episode of Warrior Nun rather than Wu Assassins at times. But there was still definitely enough to love about it from its slick cinematography, nice lighting, and fun score – as well as the decent editing delivered by a certain Chuck Norris (although not the same Chuck Norris you're thinking of). While its production design, corny script, and modern direction definitely put this as far removed from the aforementioned hugely-underrated Hollywood remake as possible, it's fair to say that Blade Of The 47 Ronin is still very much a Netflix-style comic book movie. And although it won't appeal to everyone, fight fans will enjoy the wide range of martial-arts action on offer, directed by Zack Roberts, James Newman, and the brilliant Dan Southworth himself. While it focuses mainly on the swordplay side of things, the team deliver plenty of well-designed battles that still allows those with the ability to move, the chance to show-off their true skills which really made the movie for me. Blade Of The 47 Ronin gets its UK release on April 24th from Dazzler Media!

 

Overall: Action packed and well made with a solid second half, Blade Of The 47 Ronin will keep fight fans happy and is worth checking out!

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