The Last Samurai is a great movie in the tradition of Akira Kurosawa, except for a stupid white guy who keeps spoiling all the scenes.
Tom Cruise is Capt. Nathan Algren, a disillusioned veteran of the American Indian Wars. Sinking into alcoholism, he takes a job teaching Western-style fighting to Japanese forces busy putting down a samurai rebellion. In exchange, the young Emperor of Japan (Shichinosuke Nakamura) will open his country's markets to U.S. companies. Captured by their leader Katsumoto (Ken Watanabe), Algren finds salvation in the samurai code of bushido. Eventually, Algren must choose between the two worlds.
The sets and costumes in Last Samurai are beautiful in their realism, transporting you to Japan at the turn of the 19th century. A lovely touch of the film is that the story takes place over the course of a year. The seasons change with Algren's character. His capture comes in the autumn, with fall colors blazing in the village controlled by Katsumoto's son, Nobutada (Shin Koyamada). Algren dies as a Westerner in the winter, with its rains and fat, falling snow, and he reemerges in the cherry-blossom spring as a samurai.
While Cruise finally finds himself surrounded by actors that are his physical size, the Japanese cast towers above him in terms of talent. It is ironic that the American's idea of Asian stoicism plays as lousy acting, while the performances by Watanabe and Koyamada pack powerful emotional punches in actions as simple as a turn of the head or a fleeting glance.
Also turning in a masterful performance is model-turned-actress Koyuki as Taka, a woman widowed by Algren who is then compelled to shelter her husband's killer.
Even Taka's children, Suosuke Ikematsu and Aoi Minato, steal the thunder from the ex-Mr. Kidman. If Tom Cruise is the best the U.S. can offer in terms of movie stars, we'd better start shipping our young actors over to Tokyo.
The fighting and battle scenes are well- researched and choreographed, and will doubtless please many viewers. At least until they see a Kurosawa film, at which point it will become clear how muddled and confused the action truly is. Even when it's just Cruise facing off against four assassins, it's nearly impossible to follow who is slicing what into whom. Multiply that a hundredfold and you get an idea of the major battle scenes.
Overall, though, the movie is well-paced and a delight to watch, with a moving story of honor, duty and friendship. If only they had spent less time on that gaijin.