Ronin is John Frankenheimer's latest movie. Frankenheimer came to prominence in the 60s with political thrillers like The French Connection, The Manchurian Candidate and the wonderfully original French Connection 2. He explodes into the nineties with Ronin.

In ancient Japan a Ronin was a masterless samurai who would become a hired sword for anyone with enough money. Ronin shows the modern day Ronin as a highly trained spy for hire, masterless in the aftermath of the Cold War.

The first scene shows a small coffee shop, where we are thrown into the story as the men gather to meet their employer. We discover they have been hired by a non-disclosed group, spearheaded by the lovely Natascha McElhone, to retrieve a package from some men. And so begins the best heist movie I have seen in a while.

The mercenaries are played most notably by Robert DeNiro, Jean Reno and Stellan Skarsgard. Amidst the ***backstopping and explosive violence, I realised what a great choice these actors were as they gave credibility to the detachment and blas feel the characters have toward the violence.