Seriously, what is wrong with Hollywood?

Whilst on a Wikipedia walkabout of sorts, I stumbled upon the entry for a new film based on the story of the 47 Ronin. This new adaptation will be staring Keanu Reeves, but that isn't the real clincher. He will play Kai, a part English part Japanese outcast who joins the group of samurai as they seek revenge. A bit of a head scratcher, but I'm still on board. It is a super cool story, and I can tolerate some literary liberties when telling a story. But this is the part that just sunk me.



Seriously, why? WHY? I mean what in the world is wrong with these people? The story is an incredibly awesome tale. It doesn't need anything added to make it compelling. Do the people who produce films these days really think that a freakin' samurai film, one of the absolute most enduring and popular genres in film making history needs added geek appeal? Are they that out of touch, or stupid, or do they just think that we are? I'm seriously downtrodden over this discovery today. Crap. If I were Japanese, I'd be even more ticked. This is one of their national legands, and a huge part of their national identity. And this movie is just taking a huge Chipotle fuled style dump right on it's chest.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/47_Ronin_(2013_film)

It's not just Hollywood that does this. All movie industries do. There is an anime version of "The Seven Samurai" called "Samurai 7" in which the story is set in a futuristic world with Mechs. It's not really unusual to take an old story and give it a new twist. Sometimes it is done well, "Samurai 7" and "The 300" and sometimes it is done poorly, "Troy" for example.

By the way, there are several Japanese versions of the 47 Ronin story that were very well made and more faithful to the real story.