The Last Samurai is almost exactly what you expect – a likeable movie making all the right political noises and giving its star a chance to look tough in a hair-commercial sort of way. It’s 60% Dances With Wolves, 20% Last of the Mohicans and 20% The Wild Bunch, which leaves no room for originality if I’ve done my sums right. And of course it’s not a patch on any of them.

Cruise is as competent as always, Ken Watanabe is great as head samurai, and it’s always good to see Timothy Spall in big-budget movies like he’s wandered in from the car park.

The voice-over is confusingly done by whichever actor is closest to the mike at the time and there’s a horrendous continuity error at the end where a field full of dead horses disappear. Although I don’t doubt the sincerity of the makers, it’s all based on a ridiculous idea where killing your enemy is noble unless you do it really efficiently.

Mild Peril Rating:

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