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Prevented From Sullying The Live Action Akira, Keanu Reeves Decides To Star In A Lesser Known Iconic Japanese Tale

By Rob Payne | Posted Under Trade News | Comments (12)

pajibakeanu47ronin.jpg

The live-action adaptation of Akira is a thing that’s still happening, so we can take little solace that it won’t feature the awkwardly age-inappropriate Keanu Reeves as the teenaged Kaneda. But what comfort remains is now wiped away with the fact that Reeves is starring in newcomer Carl Erick Rinsch’s 47 Ronin, a move even more ridiculous and kind-of-racist than Tom Cruise as The Last Samurai.

For those who don’t know, the legend of the forty-seven ronin is about the band of noble (as in their class status) warriors who took vengeance upon the man that caused the ignoble (as in shameful) death of their master. As /Film points out, the inherently Japanese tale that this particular adaptation is based on has been around since the 1940s, but the actual 47 masterless samurai lived and died in the early 18th century, and the most popular fictionalized re-telling of their story premiered in 1748. So, technically, this is the most adapted story in Japanese history, and probably one of the most re-told in the entire world. But nowhere in any of those re-tellings, or in the accepted history, is there a place for a white guy, much less a mixed-race piece of wood.

As evidenced by the header photo from the set of Rinsch’s and Reeve’s 47 Ronin (more photos of which can be found at /Film), there’s a pretty good reason for this. But it appears that Reeves’ involvement is one of the main reasons this 3-D action adventure was greenlit in the first place, so naturally he had to have a role in the final film, which he describes as:

“I play an outsider, a kind of half-breed with a mysterious past named Kai, who’s in love with the princess and she’s in love with me, but we can’t be together. But during this journey and revenge, things change.”

There’s no mention of a princess or a love story in any of the previous film versions of the Chushingura (the ronin in question), either. So, it sounds like the newest iteration of this story will bear the least resemblance to the source material, or the reality on which that’s based. Well, except for the 3-D, I guess — the real thing probably happened in three dimensions, too. Right? Right. Though, this 47 Ronin does get points over the Keanu-less Akira for having more actual, y’know, Japanese people in it…

Huzzah for American ingenuity!









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Comments

I could swear there was a big uproar on here that anyone would dare criticize Idris Elba playing a Norse god. Yet you have a big problem with this. Is it because Thor was just fluff, so who cares?

Posted by: Princess Piglet at November 28, 2011 11:18 AM

Princess Piglet, the distinction can be made that there were several other "Norse Gods" that were decidedly not European - that Asian member of the Warrior's Three, for example - nor were they all Norse - wasn't one almost Robin Hood with a rapier?

The 47 Ronin tale is Japanese, so if one deigns to film it, then come correct when casting the roles!

Regardless, Idris can at least act. Keanu and his wooden features are just an abstract of acting.

Posted by: malikvlc at November 28, 2011 12:02 PM

@Princess Piglet: Good question! Let me see if I can break it down so we're all on the same page.

For one, Idris Elba was playing a Norse god, not a Nordic man. Secondofly, he wasn't even playing that, but the Marvel Comics (i.e., Jack Kirby) version influenced by the "ancient astronaut" malarkey originated in Chariots of the Gods, where all the Asgardians are actually, y'know, alien beings misinterpreted as being god-like by ancient humans. Interesting you didn't bring up Tadanobu Asano's Hogun, who makes as little sense from a racial perspective as Elba if you're using the blonde-haired, blue-eyed stereotype of Nordic peoples, but whatever. Were they playing Viking warriors, yeah, that would be somewhat problematic if there was no explanation for why these two people in particular bear no resemblance to their brethren. But as they're playing characters at least two parts removed from the original myths, no, it's not problematic if you have an imagination.

Reeves isn't going to be playing a Japanese man, and that's a good thing, but his character and the story he's bringing to the movie have nothing at all to do with the original story or the real history of the Genroku Ako Incident (what historians called the 47 Ronin story). It's purely a way to cram in a white American guy to make the movie more palatable to a white American audience, though I think both Reeves and the producers clearly over estimate white America's affection for him unless he's playing duded named Neo or Ted. As if, despite the successes of foreign language films in the past that starred actors from their characters' country of origin, we simply wouldn't get it or be interested in it if we don't have a token analogue to project ourselves onto. That is insulting to everyone involved.

And that's the last I'll comment on the subject here.

Posted by: RobP at November 28, 2011 12:02 PM

@malikvlc

Hogun shouldn't have been Asian, either. Jusy because he rocks a Fu Manchu and a mongol hat, people have him pegged as the wrong ethnicity.

Posted by: Hurmever at November 28, 2011 12:29 PM

Formula for success:

Japanese Production + Japanese tale + Story centering on a specific number of warriors + Samurai = Frakking win.

Extra credit added for casting the wonderful Toshiro Mifune.

Citations:
Seven Samurai (score* = 107 + 1)
13 Assassins (score = 93)
Chushingura (score = 101)

Formula for fail:

Gaijin playing either Samurai** or Ninja.

Citations:

The Last Samurai (score = 1; manages to maintain a barely positive score for casting the wonderful Ken Watanabe)

See also: Every American Ninja movie ever made starring Michael DooDooCaca (score = negative 50, one point deduced for every U.S. state where some kid thought the movie was cool in the 80s and bought shuriken or nun-chaka at the flea market as a result)

Extra Dishonorable Mention: That Ninja TV show with Lee Van Cleef (score = -747: 0 - number of episodes - (Clint Eastwood * Sergio Leone) - Eli Wallach * 2 (for The Good, The Bad, The Ugly & The Magnificent Seven)

* Scores are absolutely arbitrary based on my whim and the number of warriors around which the tale revolves. Calculations are not accurate in any way, shape or form.

** John Blackthorne, while in service as Samurai and given the titles thereof, was never an experienced and formidable Samurai warrior. He was an outsider who got lucky on the occassion he was forced to use the Katana given him. Shogun is therefore exempted.

Posted by: lubeg at November 28, 2011 1:08 PM

On behalf of Canada, we're sorry. But you people do have to shoulder part of the blame. You made Keanu just like you made Bieber. And Nickleback.

Posted by: admin at November 28, 2011 1:52 PM

@ admin - I'm fairly certain (despite never hearing his band) that Keanu must be a far more talented musician than either Bieber or Nickelback.

Posted by: Bert at November 28, 2011 2:10 PM

a mixed-race piece of wood

Would that be like a veneer, maybe marquetry, or more like a multi-wood particle board?

Posted by: MM at November 28, 2011 2:30 PM

"Robin Hood with a rapier" - I always thought of him as Don Quixote w/o the windmill fetish.
And isnt Keanu part Asian? He is playing a half-breed, so where is the problem?

Posted by: Irina at November 29, 2011 1:00 AM

@RobP I'd like to just point out that Keanu is neither white nor American.

Posted by: Anakin McFly at November 29, 2011 8:55 AM

"much less a mixed-race piece of wood."

Nice nasty racial slur there, Rob. Stay classy.

Really, if you don't like Reeves' acting, say so. Everyone's entitled to an opinion, no matter how worthless. I grew up on Ted, and when Keanu did a 180 into a completely convincing Jack Traven, it was a surprise. And then a convincing turn into a wife-beating prick in THE GIFT.

It's amazing that such a crap actor can be so convincing in three completely different personas.

This just shows what an ignorant woodhead you are, Rob.

To repeat, if you don't like Keanu's acting, you are entitled. But let's keep the racial slurs to an appropriate minimum, shall we?

Posted by: jay at November 29, 2011 10:50 AM

ahem.
What is insulting to many people involved aka the large international audience whom, I regretfully must inform you, Rob Payne, you DO NOT represent, is your presumption that we the audience have an affection for Reeves only when he's playing dudes like Neo or Ted. Some of us are less shallow than that. ;)
Another insulting presumption is that the movie would be addressed only to white America. Wrong again. The character played by Reeves is the outcast par excellence. ('by default' for Americans ;) ) If anything, it's not the white America which is supposed to resonate with this character ;)
Subtlety. It does fly over most people's heads...

as for the princess and love story and all those elements you complain about... yeah, those are not part of the original story. But this film doesn't intend to be a Discovery Channel retelling of a historical event. It's 47 Ronin meets The Sandman: The Dream Hunters. Impossible love, sacrifice, honor and revenge...

last, but not least - what jay said.
oh, and what Anakin said.
Subtlety, remember? ;)

Posted by: M. at November 29, 2011 6:54 PM