''Last Knights'' is a 2015

action Action may refer to: * Action (narrative), a literary mode * Action fiction, a type of genre fiction * Action game, a genre of video game Film * Action film, a genre of film * ''Action'' (1921 film), a film by John Ford * ''Action'' (1980 fil ...

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...

directed by

Kazuaki Kiriya , born April 20, 1968, is a Japanese photographer and director of films and music videos. His birth name is . He is represented by Paradigm Agency. Early life and career In 1983, in his second year of junior high school, he moved to the Unite ...

and written by Michael Konyves and Dove Sussman, based loosely on (and

Westernizing Westernization (or Westernisation), also Europeanisation or occidentalization (from the ''Occident''), is a process whereby societies come under or adopt Western culture in areas such as industry, technology, science, education, politics, economi ...

, for the most part) the Japanese legend of the

forty-seven rōnin The revenge of the , also known as the or Akō vendetta, is a historical event in Japan in which a band of ''rōnin'' (lordless samurai) avenged the death of their master on 31 January 1703. The incident has since become legendary. It is on ...

. The film, a joint production between the UK, Czech Republic and South Korea, stars

Clive Owen Clive Owen (born 3 October 1964) is an English actor. He first gained recognition in the United Kingdom for playing the lead role in the ITV series '' Chancer'' from 1990 to 1991. He received critical acclaim for his work in the film '' Close ...

and

Morgan Freeman Morgan Freeman (born June 1, 1937) is an American actor, director, and narrator. He is known for his distinctive deep voice and various roles in a wide variety of film genres. Throughout his career spanning over five decades, he has received ...

in the lead roles. It centres on a band of warriors who seek to avenge the loss of their master at the hands of a corrupt minister. The film had its limited release on 3 April 2015, by

Lionsgate Lions Gate Entertainment Corporation, doing business as Lionsgate, is a Canadian-American entertainment company. It was formed by Frank Giustra on July 10, 1997, domiciled in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada and is currently headquartered ...

and was released to

video on demand Video on demand (VOD) is a media distribution system that allows users to access videos without a traditional video playback device and the constraints of a typical static broadcasting schedule. In the 20th century, broadcasting in the form of o ...

on 30 June 2015. The film was dedicated to the memory of actor

Dave Legeno David Legeno (12 October 1963 – 2 or 3 July 2014) was a British actor and mixed martial artist. Life and career Legeno was born David Steven Murray in Marylebone, London, England. Legeno's first major film role was in Guy Ritchie's '' ...

, who died in 2014.

Plot

Commander Raiden is surprised when aging nobleman Bartok makes him heir to his kingdom, a vassal to a corrupt empire. When minister Geza Mott beats Bartok for failing to provide an adequate bribe, Bartok retaliates and is put to trial where he denounces the loss of honour in the empire. Raiden is ordered to execute his master Bartok, whose clan is disbanded and estate divided. Geza has his warrior Ito watch Raiden lest he seek revenge. A year passes and Geza, still fearful of Raiden, demands half his father-in-law Auguste's troops to protect construction of his newly fortified estate, and is promoted to First Councillor to the Emperor. The Emperor chides Geza for his paranoid behavior over Raiden who is now a drunkard. Raiden has sold his sword for drink, his wife has left him, and he is hated by his men for killing Bartok. Geza relaxes his watch on Raiden. Raiden and the Bartok clan soldiers have sacrificed everything for the illusion of complete defeat, while preparing to avenge Bartok's death. Auguste, an old friend of Bartok, has made a pact to help Raiden in return for freeing his daughter from her abusive marriage to Geza. Raiden and his men infiltrate Geza's estate and face Geza's soldiers. Raiden kills Ito in a duel; Ito's men surrender to him. Raiden breaks into Geza's bedroom and decapitates him as his men rescue Bartok's daughter. The Emperor's council realises the public view Geza's death as righteous and widely support the Bartok clan. They caution him against the risk of turning the people against the crown. Raiden asks that only he be executed for Geza's death. The crown publicly acknowledges the righteousness of the Bartok clan, but reminds the crowd that killing a high council member is the same as an attack on the emperor and Raiden will be executed. Raiden charges Lieutenant Cortez to take control of the Bartok clan. In flashback, he apologises to Naomi. Raiden lowers his head with his eyes closed, and as the executioner draws his sword back, Raiden's eyes suddenly open wide as the screen goes to black.

Cast

as Raiden *

as Bartok *

Cliff Curtis Clifford Vivian Devon Curtis (born 27 July 1968) is a New Zealand actor. His film credits include ''Once Were Warriors'' (1994), ''Three Kings'' (1999), ''Training Day'' (2001), ''Whale Rider'' (2002), ''Collateral Damage'' (2002), ''Sunshine'' ...

as Lieutenant Cortez *

Aksel Hennie Aksel Hennie (born 29 October 1975) is a Norwegian actor, director, and screenwriter. He is best known for his roles in the films '' Headhunters'' (2011), ''Hercules'' (2014), and '' The Martian'' (2015). Early life Hennie was born in the Lambert ...

as Geza Mott *

as Olaf *

Ayelet Zurer Ayelet Zurer ( he, איילת זורר; born ) is an Israeli actress. She was nominated for awards at the Jerusalem Film Festival, the Israeli Academy Awards and the Israeli Television Academy Awards. She won Best Actress awards for her roles i ...

as Naomi *

Shohreh Aghdashloo Shohreh Aghdashloo ( fa, شهره آغداشلو, ; née Vaziri-Tabar (); 11 May 1952) is an Iranian and American actress. Following numerous starring roles on the stage, she made her film debut in ''Chess of the Wind'' (1976). Her next two film ...

as Maria *

Ahn Sung-ki Ahn Sung-ki (born January 1, 1952) is a South Korean actor. One of the country's most respected actors, he has appeared in more than 130 films during his career of over 60 years. Career A native of Seoul, Ahn was the son of a veteran filmmaker ...

as Auguste *

Tsuyoshi Ihara is a Japanese actor, martial artist, and writer of Korean descent. Biography Ihara is a Japanese person of Korean descent, born on November 6, 1963, in Kitakyūshū as Yun Yu-gu (윤유구/尹惟久) and who grew up in Ikuno-ku, Osaka. He is a ...

as Ito *

Park Si-yeon Park Si-yeon (born Park Mi-seon on March 29, 1979) is a South Korean actress. She joined the Miss Korea pageant in 2000, and using that as a springboard to an acting career, she made her acting debut in China in 2004, appearing in minor roles in ...

as Hannah * Hannah Rose Caton as Lilly * Giorgio Caputo as Slim Tully * James Babson as Fat Jim *

Payman Maadi Payman Maadi ( fa, پیمان معادی; born 1972), also known as Peyman Moadi, is an Iranian American actor, screenwriter and director. He is best known for starring in the films ''A Separation'' (2011) and ''About Elly'' (2009) by Iranian A ...

as Emperor * Noah Silver as Gabriel

Reception

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

, the film has an approval rating of 16% based on 31 reviews, with an average rating of 3.3/10. The site's critical consensus reads: "As blandly unimaginative as its title, ''Last Knights'' revisits well-worn sword-and-sandal tropes without adding anything new—or interesting—to the genre." On

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...

, the film has a weighted average score of 27 out of 100, based on 13 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews". Manohla Dargis of

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

said the film "proves as square and blandly manly as an old ''

Prince Valiant ''Prince Valiant in the Days of King Arthur'', often simply called ''Prince Valiant'', is an American comic strip created by Hal Foster in 1937. It is an epic adventure that has told a continuous story during its entire history, and the full stretc ...

'' comic strip." Justin Chang of

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

wrote: "Last Knights is a fairly ludicrous mystery and a so-so action movie, but it’s nonetheless been constructed with an earnest attention to detail that shouldn’t be taken for granted." Max Nicholson of

IGN ''IGN'' (formerly ''Imagine Games Network'') is an American video game and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa distri ...

awarded it a score of 5.8 out of 10, saying "''Last Knights'' doesn't quite rise to the challenge, despite good leads in Clive Owen and Morgan Freeman."

References

External links

* {{Forty-seven Ronin 2015 films 2015 action drama films British action drama films Czech action drama films Films about capital punishment Films about friendship British films about revenge Films shot in the Czech Republic Lionsgate films South Korean action drama films English-language Czech films English-language South Korean films 2010s English-language films 2010s British films 2010s South Korean films English-language action drama films