Ronin DVD > Reviews > Ron'n grab this!

Author's product rating:   

Did you enjoy it?	Liked it
Story	Satisfactory
Characters / Performances	Good
Special Effects	Good
Soundtrack	Unmemorable

Advantages:	Damn exciting whenever you watch it .  Good cast .
Disadvantages:	The end is a bit disappointing .  What's in the case?

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

Directed by the late John Frankenheimer (Black Sunday), the film begins with one of those word introductions - white subtitles on a black page, informing you that "Ronin" is the Japanese word for Samurai without a master (leaving you slightly unnerved since the film you remember buying/ rating has De Niro pointing a gun at you in a very unJapanese manner...) However, the relevance of this, is that without masters, these men are mercenaries, up for sale to the highest bidder.

Dierdre (an irishwoman played by Natascha McElhone) employs several of these "Ronin"/ merc's in order to gain possession of an important suitcase, the contents of which remain myserious throughout the film (slightly irritatingly, but also cleverly since it maintains interest), and various organised criminals will do anything to get it. However, each man on the team (including Jean Reno, Sean Bean and Robert De Niro) seems to have his/ her own agenda, particularly the man who commissioned the retrieval in the first place - Seamus O'Rourke (played by Jonathan Pryce, Eliot Carver in 'Tomorrow Never Dies'). Gradually as each new scenario unfolds, twists and counter-twists begin cropping up all over the place, making for an incredibly exciting and nail-biting thriller.

Ronin has a 15 certificate due to it's violence and language. There is little sexual content, although the odd reference is there. A lot of action, shooting and fighting takes place, and the car chases rival some of the best bond movies! Various weapons and tactics are employed, resulting in some decent special effects and explosions.

Location, location. Ronin features a variety of french landscapes and places, from tiny beautiful villages and countryside, to explosive car chases through tunnels and roads in Paris. You can even see the exact spot where Princess Diana died in her car crash. (just for some interesting trivia...)

The cliche of the 'evil Russians' is a bit typical and is just one of the films slightly predictable elements, although this is made up for by some completely unpredicatable moments, such as the diversionary tactics De Niro employs to test the strength and reactions of the Suitcase 'protectors'.

Basically, the suitcase provides quite the excuse for lots of great action sequences with little actual consequence. It works, but the storyline is pretty weak and the twists and acting are the only thing keeping it head above water really. The acting is good by all parties, particularly Sean Bean i thought, who plays Spence, one of the tightly strung, more trigger happy of the team.

The soundtrack is nothing particularly memorable, but provides appropriate and exciting music in all the right places.

To conclude, there is no doubt that Ronin is a good film, but it's not exactly a classic, or a real innovator in terms of filming, it just compounds all the aspects which make a good Action movie, and does just that. In terms of editing and direction, the film is a winner, with great cinematics, keeping the tension going, it's just not all that interesting (but hey, you're not watching a documentary right?!) Definitely worth watching, but don't expect it to change your life.