the way of the samurai

so i went to see tom cruise's big epic The Last Samurai.

here's a quick bit about the story: remember Kevin Costner's long epic about Native Americans many years bacK? Dances With Wolves it was called.

The Last Samurai is Cruise's version. Just that it's set in Japan (a disguised New Zealand) and full of Japanese people instead of Native Americans. Should be called Fighting with Samurai really.

It's got the same big ego-ed American hero who thinks hes all that but then falls in with the savages and realises that they are the ones who are really all that.

What i found interesting was that i didn't hate it as much as i thought i would. The Cruise missile sputtered out in mid-air as I expected it to but the saving grace of the movie were the Japanese actors, specifically Ken Watanabe who brought dignity, nobility to the role of Katsumoto.

i did too like the big battle scene - very LOTR helms deep-ish with swords and bows and arrows and that kinda cool shit.

k that about summs it up.