Just read over at Nikkei View that Keanu Reeves has been tapped for a starring role in a re-telling of the classic Japanese historical drama The 47 Ronin. Let me preface my own commentary by stating that while I am by no means the president of Mr. Reeves fan club, I don’t inherently dislike him either. I think Reeves can be useful in certain roles.
But – I have to question the judgement of anyone who would cast Reeves in The 47 Ronin. Is it a question of being Japanese enough?
Maybe.
Probably.
I’m not going to lie – watching one-half of Bill and Ted work his way through what is arguably one of the most important events in Japanese cultural history would be a cringeworthy exercise.
I suppose, all things being equal, this is merely a means of putting asses in seats – and who can blame the bean-counters for wanting to stack the deck with a bunch of unknown (here at least) Asian actors. Is Reeve’s part in the film an egregious case of ‘Yellowface‘? I wouldn’t go that far. But I don’t think there’s anything amiss in calling it what it is – poor judgement.
That has to be a joke.
Please God, let it be a joke.
It’s not even so much that he isn’t Japanese (though that bugs me too), but that he can’t act his way out of a paper bag. The 47 Ronin deserves, you know, actual decent actors.
Not a joke, apparently. I’m not too chuffed about it, though – there are at least two decent versions of the story on film already, so it’s not like there will *never* be a good 47 Ronin film.