--- title: "Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai: the reviews" canonical: "https://film.one/film/ghost-dog-the-way-of-the-samurai/reviews" title_page: "https://film.one/film/ghost-dog-the-way-of-the-samurai" critics_score: 67 critics_reviews: 10 licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai (1999): what the critics said Critics' score 67 from 10 reviews: 6 positive, 3 mixed, 1 negative. Most critics respond warmly to Jarmusch’s offbeat hitman film, praising its dry humour and unusual combination of Mafia culture, samurai codes and hip-hop. Forest Whitaker is the clearest point of agreement: the reviews repeatedly single out his stillness, gravity and presence as reasons to care about an otherwise absurd character. The music also draws praise, while the more enthusiastic accounts find wit and affection in the film’s treatment of honour and professionalism. The reservations concern how much these eccentricities add up to, with responses ranging from warm appreciation to outright disappointment. Several critics find the storytelling thin or uneven, and Sight and Sound argues that the cultural themes receive lazy treatment through stereotypes. Variety is the strongest dissenter, finding charm in individual scenes but little dramatic depth in the whole; the broader divide is over whether the playful mixture offers insight or merely sustains an amusing conceit. ## The Guardian — Peter Bradshaw Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 28 April 2000. Jarmusch's serio-comedy is an enjoyable and distinctive take on cinema gangland that mixes martial codes with mafia culture in a whimsical, sui generis way. The critic singles out the playful yet serious tone and the guarded respect it establishes between different cultural codes of honour. [Read the review](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2000/apr/28/4) ## Time Out — GA Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 10 September 2012. Jarmusch's offbeat hitman variation grafts moods, motifs and gags onto the story of a samurai-code assassin, creating a funny, insightful and highly original tribute to honour and professionalism that proves his wit and invention intact. Praises the camerawork, score and bird footage. [Read the review](https://www.timeout.com/movies/ghost-dog-the-way-of-the-samurai) ## Empire — Kim Newman Fi1m's normalised score 75/100 (inferred from the text). 1 January 2000. The critic finds wry amusement in Jarmusch's absurd take on the hitman genre, which piles oddity on a conventional plot in an empty parallel universe. Whitaker's expressive stillness in the pauses is singled out as the real draw amid the stifled hilarity and quirky supporting turns. [Read the review](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/ghost-dog-way-samurai-review/) ## IndieWire Fi1m's normalised score 75/100 (inferred from the text). 3 March 2000. The film successfully blends mafia, samurai, and hip-hop elements into an engaging whole. The critic highlights the inventive cultural mash-up as a key strength. [Read the review](https://www.indiewire.com/criticism/culture/review-ghost-dog-successfully-mixes-mafia-samurai-and-hip-hop-81771/) ## RogerEbert.com — Roger Ebert Fi1m's normalised score 75/100 (inferred from the text). 17 March 2000. The critic argues that understanding the protagonist as quietly insane deepens appreciation of the film. He praises Forest Whitaker's poignant performance and Jarmusch's risky stylistic mix. [Read the review](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/ghost-dog-the-way-of-the-samurai-2000) ## Evening Standard Fi1m's normalised score 60/100 (inferred from the text). 10 April 2012. The film is likened to a Looney Tunes cartoon made flesh, with the hitman-as-philosopher conceit delivering clever moments and cool killings but ultimately reducing to absurdity without much illumination. Whitaker's gravity and the hip-hop soundtrack provide some weight and whimsy amid the minimalist Tarantino vibe. [Read the review](https://www.standard.co.uk/culture/film/ghost-dog-7433919.html) ## Sight and Sound — Xan Brooks Fi1m's normalised score 60/100 (inferred from the text). Jarmusch remakes a hitman thriller in his own eccentric image as a hip-hop Mafia samurai story, blending warmth and cool distance with funny, affectionate performances from Forest Whitaker and Henry Silva. The critic finds it lazy in exploring cultural themes, relying on stereotypes without illumination. [Read the review](http://old.bfi.org.uk/sightandsound/review/371) ## The New York Times — A. O. Scott Fi1m's normalised score 60/100 (inferred from the text). 3 March 2000. Jarmusch deconstructs the samurai epic and gangster film in a postmodern style aided by RZA's music. The result is fascinating but uneven, with ritualistic violence but little suspense or action. [Read the review](https://www.nytimes.com/2000/03/03/movies/film-review-passions-of-emptiness.html) ## Variety — Todd McCarthy Fi1m's normalised score 35/100 (inferred from the text). 20 May 1999. Festival review. Jarmusch offers a wispy, absurdist take on the hit-man genre that feels thin and lacking in dramatic depth or meaningful confrontation. Individual scenes have charm thanks to Whitaker and whimsy, but the overall conception is slight. [Read the review](https://variety.com/1999/film/reviews/ghost-dog-the-way-of-the-samurai-1117499794/) ## Eye for Film — Angus Wolfe Murray Fi1m's normalised score 75/100 (inferred from the text). 19 January 2001. The film belongs to Forest Whitaker, whose forceful presence makes the absurdity of his character easy to overlook. It satirises Mafia movies while raising the spirit of Kurosawa, delivering violent fun under the cover of samurai code. [Read the review](https://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/review/ghost-dog-film-review-by-angus-wolfe-murray) --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Our review: https://film.one/film/ghost-dog-the-way-of-the-samurai.md