Although this movie isn't a classic, I would understand why some people loved it. At first, we see a character that seems like a misfit, he follows some kind of samurai code, he lives on his own with a bunch of pigeons and his life is very lonely with not much going on.
The story is mainly about crime, and a bit of philosophizing here and there following some Japanese doctrine, which in my opinion, turned out to be boring and annoying. This misfit is a very professional hitman, and as one could expect in such a profession, he ends up getting into trouble with a very powerful family. So besides crime, we see a very talented hitman doing everything he can to survive, always following his samurai code of course.
I would have loved to see him using his samurai swords against some enemies, but sadly he only uses guns. However, he does have a funny movement when putting his guns back in his hip, like if he was handling an actual sword.
One of the things that shows the level of planning that Ghost Dog (the main character) is used to, is the way he communicates with one of his clients. I won't share it in order to not spoil this part of the movie, but is a very clever way to transmit messages using an almost untraceable method. I would bet advanced crime groups such as big cartels use this method in real life.
Even though Forest Whitaker makes an effort in portraying a believable and intriguing character, I never bought it. The character is so bizarre that he always seemed almost like a parody and not an actual hitman with samurai beliefs.
This doesn't mean I didn't enjoy the movie, it does have its fun moments, but I honestly think they are not enough. The movie could have been much better, I think the actor is not the best choice for this type of character, and the character itself should have had more background info.
The best
- Funny scenes between the main character and a french ice cream guy.
- Ghost Dog shows some street smarts that shows he has a lot of experience.
- Despite the basic plot, it has its good moments.
The worst
- I didn't enjoy the silly interruptions when a philosophical message was displayed while the main actor narrated it.
- Despite the main character was designed to have a sort of mysticism about him, it was not that interesting for me.
- Even if he followed some kind of samurai code, the ending doesn't make sense.
More information: https://www.themoviedb.org/movie/4816-ghost-dog-the-way-of-the-samurai Review: AA In numbers: 6/10
