By Keanu Reeves has been chatting about his 3D fantasy samurai epic 47 Ronin, despite the movie still being a year and a half away from its scheduled release on November 11th 2012. The story is based on a Japanese legend, treading the not-unfamiliar ground of a band of disgraced samurai seeking vengeance against the Lord who had their master killed.
Keanu, tragically not punctuating his every other word with ‘woah’, explained to Collider how important it was to him that the legend were treated with appropriate respect despite changes being made, and thusly answered Hero Complex‘s question about what interested him in lead character Kai:
There’s a sadness about him and I admire the grace he shows in response to other people’s feelings. He doesn’t have anger about the way he is viewed, but there is sadness and I’ve found that an interesting thing to work with.
Follow the jump for a synopsis of the movie’s plot.
[via Collider and Hero Complex]The troupe of banished samurai long to restore their honor and find vengeance against the treacherous Lord Kira (played by Asano, who is in theaters now as Hogun in Thor) who was responsible for the death of their master. Kai is the uneasy compatriot in their company and his standing will be questioned even more as he falls in love with Mika (Shibasaki), daughter of the fallen master. The film presents a quest where the ronin (the term for samurai with no master) face trials that test their mettle and their loyalty to one another.