Jade-Krieger

The first major genre-film in Finnish history, Jadewarrior is a slick and stylish movie of epic proportions. Combining both Chinese Wuxia and the national epic, Kalevala, into a seamless whole the movie creates a beautifully realized vision of alternate history and mythology.

Kai is a blacksmith, living in the outskirts of Helsinki. After his girlfriend leaves him, and meeting a mysterious store owner with an obsession of the Kalevala - Kai is thrust into a battle between good and evil that has raged since ancient times. Should Kai fail, it would cost the lives of not only his beloved, but everyone in the world.

Since it's conception, Finnish films have been in stuck in a rut of bad and repetitive storytelling, with films that you couldn't distinguish from each other without looking at their names. With only dozens upon dozens of war and drama films to our credit, Jadewarrior presents finally visions of grandeur of what Finnish cinema could become. Effortlessly switching between modern magical realities á la Neil Gaiman and the epic scopes of Zhang Yimous Hero and House of Flying Daggers, Jadewarrior is brimming with talented storytelling and visual delivery to match it. First time helmer, A.J Annila charges with leaps and bounds to the very small minority of interesting Scandinavian filmmakers to look out for.

Filmed in locations around the world, such as China and it's home country of Finland, Jadewarrior boasts with visually powerful locales to match it's breathtaking action. With production values most Scandinavian films would die for, the film has the look and feel of a major Hollywood blockbuster, but with wit and heart to match it's brawn. Never force feeding it's centuries spanning plot, Jadewarrior constructs a surprisingly intelligent and heartfelt tale of tragedy without ever feeling forced or calculated.

With actors ranging from Finnish newcomers (Krista Kosonen) to Chinese pro's (Jingchu Zhang), the film delivers. First time leading man, Tommi Eeronen works wonders with his challenging dual role as Kai and Sintai. Switching between his native language of Finnish to fully realized Mandarin Chinese effortlessly. Markku Peltola also succeeds in making his character both tremendously threatening and charming with small nuances, also delivering his performance partly in Mandarin. Chinese actress Zhang Jingchu has the fragile beauty of a young Michelle Yeoh, balancing her performance between the maiden in love and the battle hardener warrior. And while some of the Finnish dialog may sound cringe worthy to native speakers - thanks to it's melodramatic inspirations, Kalevala and Wuxia - the subtitled Chinese segments work better than anyone would have dared to imagine.

With 2006 still having a good way to go before it's end, calling Jadewarrior one of the best films of the year may be a slight gamble. But calling it the best Finnish film in memory isn't. Beautiful, heartfelt, with action and set-pieces to die for - Jadewarrior marks hopefully the beginning of a new wave in Finnish film-making, and deserves all praise coming for it.

First of all, not every story can be that ultimate epic saga that makes your heart go hundred and fifty RPM for the three-and-a-half hours of amazing storytelling. Although someone could have brought together Kalevala, the Finnish national epic, and Chinese wuxia mystique in a more theatrical way, I'm actually glad that this time they didn't.

Jade Warrior is a low-budget film in the European or Asian, not to mention American, scale. Exactly because of that, with all the love and passion they've managed to load this story with, Jade Warrior is a delightfully naive yet very one of a kind film. Its unique spirit is in the low-tone acting, in the settings, in the costumes, in the dialoque, in the mixture of these two exotic world-views and beautiful languages - it's everywhere. After it will have been recognized next year with international awards, Jade Warrior will become one of the few Finnish films every film freak will have to see - and hopefully it won't be the only Finnish-Chinese co-production we'll see in this decade or so.

I heard about this movie over a year before its release, and followed the progress of the project with mild curiosity throughout the production. When it finally premiered, I expected to see a campy martial arts film with tongue-in-cheek action sequences, and a feeble plot. What I got was the opposite; the movie turned out to be much less of a Kung Fu film than it was cracked up to be, but I was pleasantly surprised with the plot and the character development. Thus, I left the theatre with mixed feelings, though my general opinion of the movie was more on the positive side.

The first third of the film is rather... odd. It opens with a stunning scene set in ancient Finland, but when the story shifts into modern times, it temporarily loses its touch. The plot is dragging, and characters are introduced in a way that leaves the viewer confused about who they are, what they want, and what has happened to them prior to point where the story picks up with them. I suppose it's the director's fault that half of the time everything the characters do feels irrational and pointless. However, when the plot line set in ancient China kicks off, the quality of the movie immediately improves. The parallel stories support each other, the main character gets more depth, and the pace of the story becomes steadier. By the end of the movie, the two plot lines have neatly entwined into a coherent whole, providing the story a beautiful finale in perfect contrast to the messy beginning. In the end, the plot manages to even out its flaws, though only scarcely.

What I particularly liked about Jadesoturi was the delightfully original plot. Generally speaking, the plots of Kung Fu movies aren't exactly epitomes of originality and great character development, and I expected that the makers of the first and only Finnish Kung Fu movie ever wouldn't even need to bother themselves with a proper script as long as the action scenes work. That's why I was surprised that not only did Jadesoturi manage to tell a tremendously humane story about a man's fear and desperation when facing the inevitable, it also provided believable character development and an unexpected twist ending. And all free of the typical Hollywood clichés! The hero isn't your average sword-shielding action god, but a lonely, insecure man with a painful desire to love and be loved, who consciously disregards the greater good in order to pursue personal happiness. Even his name is an apt pun - Kai meaning "perhaps", and the 'pelko' part of his surname Pelkonen meaning "fear". His inner conflict is the heart of the movie, and the one thing that sets this movie apart from all the rest.

In addition to the good plot, the movie contains lots of beautiful imagery, like the shots of Kai's rundown workshop, and the secluded Chinese village. The action sequences are quite stunning, though more artistic than realistic. I also liked most of the actors. These are the reasons why I personally enjoyed the film enough to be able to forgive the movie for its flaws - such as the weak beginning, the pointless subplot including Ronja and Berg's co-worker, and the Worst Evil Scheme Thought Up By A Villain Ever (seriously, am I the only one why is still confused about what the demon was trying to achieve with his cunning plan in the first place?). Jadesoturi has also been criticized for the lack of Kung Fu scenes, which are limited to the minimum. I personally think the problem isn't the lack of martial arts itself, but the fact that it was marketed as a Kung Fu movie even though the emphasis was on the drama, not on the action. It's more of a fantasy/drama film with Kung Fu elements, rather than the reverse.

My opinion? Jadesoturi is an interesting movie, but not an outstanding one. It has plenty of flaws, but also an original story to tell.

I watched this movie on DVD just the other day, and wow what a movie. This is certainly the best film I have seen out of Finland. The martial arts scenes are great, the story is great. I watched it without subtitles in the original version, it is way over the top. If you can find it, get it, it is well worth it. Being a first time director, this guy has done the most amazing job. He has taken all sorts of talent and blended them into a seamless film. The composition of the filming is incredible, as well as the use of a very detailed story. When it is purchased by a major studio I hope they do not edit it from it's original form, because itg is perfect.

Jade Warrior is a new and excellent achievement for Finnish films. Not only is it a martial arts film that was made with a budget of a few million euros (which is still exceptionally high for a Finnish film), but it's also produced and directed as if it was made with a much higher budget by an experienced director. This is no embarrassing first attempt or prototype, but a genre film that's easily on par with modern standards, and also has an interesting, original and intelligent storyline. If you replaced Tommi Eronen with a Chinese actor and removed the parts taking place in Finland, people might conceivably think that Yimou Zhang has released a new movie. Since Jade Warrior is a martial arts film, a lot of attention will naturally be paid to the fight scenes, which are well choreographed and fluidly shot, without excessive closeups and quick cuts. I particularly like the use of flying leaves in fight scenes. While there are some impossible physics, they are used sparsely, and aren't too exaggerated.

The sets, costumes, effects and soundtrack are all outstanding, as are the actors. I think Markku Peltola's portrayal of the demon was especially interesting. Also, I don't mean to sound superficial, but Jingchu Zhang is stunningly and exceptionally beautiful. She's apparently a rising star in China, and is about to do a Hollywood film. I look forward to seeing her again.

Finnish cinema has almost entirely consisted of drama and comedy, with a few war films, so Jade Warrior is clearly a breath of fresh air. Certainly there are many good Finnish films, but they're either drama or comedy. I don't know why we're so reluctant to try something new. It's not just a budget issue, you don't necessarily need millions to do an action film, for instance. The fact that we've restricted ourselves to the aforementioned genres became apparent when I watched the film, because some of the dialogue made me cringe, since films like Jade Warrior are never done here, and the dialogue seems out of place. This isn't the film's fault, of course.

The limited international reaction seems to be very positive so far, and Finnish reviews have also been largely positive. Hopefully Jade Warrior will succeed to the point where we start doing more than low budget drama and comedy. Of course, this was a cooperative project with China, so credit must go to them as well.