An average movie

I already saw this movie but since it was a while back and since I had it on DVD, I thought I might as well check it out again. Well, the first thing I noticed while re-watching the damned thing was that it was actually pretty much 'Dances with Wolves' in Japan. As a result, they made a similar mistake which was that, in 'Dances with Wolves', Kevin Costner actually became a better Indian than the Indians themselves and, here, Tom Cruise pretty much mastered the art of being a samurai in a few months when it would take an actual samurai years to reach this level. Another thing that bothered me was that they never clearly explained why there was actually some rebellion in Japan at the time. Finally, even though it was interesting that the main character was suffering of PTSD, it didn't really make sense that he would go to Japan to crush another rebellion, even for a lot of money, since he would already know what the outcome would be. Concerning Tom Cruise, the guy was and still is seriously charismatic but, as usual, even though his performance was solid, he didn't take enough risks and, as a result, it all felt really safe and completely predictable. At least, I did like the fact that the Japanese characters were always talking Japanese to each other and not suddenly in English just only because it would be more convenient for the American audience. Anyway, eventually, the whole thing was still visually really neat and, in spite of its flaws, it was fairly entertaining and I think it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre.