The Last Samurai, Edward Zwick's thundering tale of redemption, gives Tom Cruise one of his better roles in years.

Cruise is Cpt. Nathan Algren, a decorated Civil War veteran who is haunted by an infamous battle in which he was ordered to slaughter a helpless tribe of American Indians.

Just as he is succeeding in drinking himself to death, Algren is hired by Japan's young emperor to modernize the country's army.

Upon arriving in Japan, Algren learns he has left the memory of one civil war to enter another.

He is training the Japanese army to defeat the country's once revered samurai warriors, who have fallen into disfavour with an ambitious advisor to the emperor.

Before Algren's troops are ready, they are sent to meet the samurai who easily defeat them and Algren is taken captive by the samurai leader Katsumoto (Ken Watanabe).

In the blink of a camera's eye, Algren is dancing with samurai.

Like Kevin Costner's embittered Civil War officer in Dances with Wolves, Algren finds inner peace when he is assimilated into an ancient culture.

Eventually the samurai will once again face Japan's new army, but this time the soldiers will be better trained and will have superior weapons.

Algren will have to decide on which side to fight. The battle sequences in The Last Samurai are among the most impressive in recent memory.

They have the same stirring authenticity and visceral power as those in Braveheart which should come as little surprise seeing John Toll is the cinematographer on both films.

Cruise is entirely believable as the emerging warrior, especially in the training sequences. At first clumsy with the wooden staves, Algren endures severe physical abuse until he masters them well enough to be given a sword.

Cruise brings just enough humour to these scenes to make them entertaining as Algren's skills progress and makes for a most convincing warrior when Algren gets into full samurai gear and hits the battlefield.

Cruise is not quite as believable in portraying Algren's emotional and spiritual voyages.

At the beginning of the film, there is far too much nobility in his drunken army veteran and, once in Japan, he tries too hard to match Watanabe's heroic stoicism.

Cruise has all the right stances and facial expressions; it's just that there's no heart to his performance.

It's great posturing but it is only posturing which is most evident in his scenes with the young actors who play the village children where there is no hint of artifice.

The cautious love affair that blossoms between Algren and Katsumoto's sister-in-law, Taka (Koyuki), is handled with a delicacy befitting a culture based on rules of conduct.

As Algren's best friend and army drinking buddy, Billy Connolly supplies some much needed early comic relief and a moment of genuine pathos.

Tony Goldwyn gives Algren's American nemesis, the corrupt Colonel Bagley, all the nuances of a hateful screen villain and Timothy Spall as a British historian acts as the eyes of the audience.

The film's anti-climax weakens the impact of the film.

Its themes of honour, redemption and friendship are best resolved on the battlefield and not in some schmaltzy epilogue.

(This film is rated 14A)

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