Jadesoturi

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.

I am a big fan of kung fu movies. This is not so much of a kung fu movie, although the action scenes are very fluent and clear. You often see much worse scenes in actual Asian kung fu action films. Sometimes the action is too fast, too sloppy and edited like crap. Not here. The fights are used sparsely and with good taste. The comment posted by wujie is off considering the choreography in comparison. And I'm finding it hard to believe the comments about this film, because the name suggests he/she is Asian origin. If you've seen 10 Asian kung fu flicks, you've most likely seen 5 films with worse action than here. The plot is good. Acting is good. Occasionally you might be a little confused about the progression though. But overall it binds you to your seat for the duration. I guess you can call this an epic drama spiced with occasional action scenes. In Finnish standards this film rocks. And even if you're not a Finn you will most probably be happy with the experience after watching this. Of course the differencies with cultures may be an issue. But to European and American taste this is definitely worth watching. And compared to Asian cinema I find this more "normal", if you'll allow me to say this without being offended. Asian cinema often has weird characters that are strangely eccentric and odd. Here I found the characters to be human, normal, not perfect (wujie comments on this being a bad thing). So along the good fight scenes, which are meant at times to be like dancing to represent other issues than mere fighting (again wujie commented on this subject), there is content to keep you interested in the plot all the way until the end. If you read this comment, read also the comment from Asian perspective (wujie) and then make up your mind.

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.

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.

The movie mixes together Finnish and Chinese mythology, a very interesting and definitely unique basis. Visually the fighting scenes were excellent and I really enjoyed watching them, there just were too few of them. Of course it's good that the movie is more than just fighting, so there would be plenty of time to tell the - as said, interesting - story. Two stories are told at one time, one from ancient China and the second from present-day Finland, and they mixed very well together. But unfortunately the characters remain blank through the whole movie. I didn't get anything out of them, though the story made me yearn to know everything. The characters are captivating, especially Pin Yu's person and Kai's and Ronja's relationship, but too much stays as a mystery. The beginning half is very entertaining and makes your imagination fly. But then the movie becomes disordered and the spectator becomes confused. There are lots of things that are left unexplained, and some things don't seem to have anything to do with the movie. Sometimes it feels like 'a scene has now been cut away from here, and it would explain what I now don't understand.' Those missing little parts didn't start to haunt me after I went to sleep though, the movie wasn't that special. It was definitely entertaining, worth watching, but perhaps not twice. A big plus for the imaginative theme, good music and the courage to do such a film.