La voie du guerrier

Sometimes a film has everything going for it on paper and yet somehow manages to mess itself up. 'The Warrior's Way' is actually the opposite. Nothing really should work here and yet it all falls together to make a highly-watchable film.

Dong-Gun Jang is the titular 'warrior,' but don't feel too bad if you haven't heard of him as - apparently - this was his first Hollywood film. He plays an oriental fighter who leaves his native land in disgrace when he finds he's unable to kill the infant heir of a rival clan. It goes without saying that the story takes place in the past - this sort of thing doesn't happen that much these days (hopefully!). So he heads to the 'Wild West' of America where he settles down in a tiny desert town and looks after his (adopted) daughter. Unfortunately, the clan who he fell foul of has other ideas and follow him over.

However, don't expect wall-to-wall martial arts action from the off. I hope it's not too much of a 'spoiler' to say that all these evil ninjas don't follow him straight away, leaving plenty of time for our hero to get to know his new townsfolk. And, if you see any of the marketing surrounding this movie you'll notice that the cast who have obviously been classed as 'more familiar' to our Western audiences take prominent positions, namely Kate Bosworth, Geoffrey Rush and Danny Huston. They're all good, but only get top billing due to most people not knowing who Dong-Gun Jang is and that's a shame for him as he's more than capable of headlining a film like this.

Don't worry, there's plenty of great action thrown in there, but also a suprising amount of character development thrown in. A lot of people have mentioned how 'CGI' it looks. Oddly enough, I'm one of those people who hates computer-generated special effects and finds that - sometimes - too much of them can completely ruin a film for me. However, here they just seem to work. And they don't come much more excessive that in 'The Warrior's Way.' I doubt there were more than a couple of sets built for the entire production, as almost all the backgrounds are done (or looked like it to me!) on a green screen.

So, despite looking much like a hour and a half long Playstation 2 cut-scene, the film actually jogs along nicely. There's humour, fun, characters you'll care about and obviously a couple of evil baddies who you'll want to see get what's coming to them. If you like your martial arts films on the light-hearted side and have a strong tolerance to CGI effects then this is definitely worth a watch.

This English-language Korean film certainly is pleasing to the eye. It is visually stunning with great photography. Unconventional and a bit weird also comes to mind, but oh-so enjoyable and a lot of fun (despite some slapstick humor).

The film combines so many different elements and genres: action, adventure, humor, fantasy, brutality, gore, and even sensuality. It's hard to put my finger on what exactly attracts me to the film. Maybe the unusual combination of everything. Definitely the film's look! And it has a great score.

I didn't find the hero, Yang, a strong enough character. Lynne (Kate Bosworth) was a far more interesting character with a much better back story - and story altogether. At times Danny Huston didn't seem believable - or terrifying - enough as Colonel, the antagonist, but the showdown between Lynne and Colonel was a great moment.

In general, this is an awesome production and a great watch - just don't take it too seriously.

Would I watch it again? Yes.

Never ceases to amaze me how a movie can move an audience in polar opposite ways. It's probably the expectations - so if you go in to have some escapist fun, action and swordplay, you won't be disappointed.

So, why will I be happy to rewatch this grossly underrated movie that's avoided me for the first four years of its life tsk tsk: a simple story combining the Seven Samurai and Silas Marner (kinda), intoxicating mix of humor, gorgeous grotesqueness and visual splendour . . . and a love story that did not force itself on the surreal action thread.

One of the hallmarks of a good film has to be how much love a writer director puts into the details and in this, it is clear Lee Sngmoo has nurtured this baby for a while: superb production, lovely setups and payoffs.

Oh, make my decade and give us a sequel already!

Amazing for a first time director. Bravo! Bravo!

Imagine a Sergio Leone western with swords. The setting is as sparse as the dialogue but you don't sit through one of his works for the acting or the plot. Warrior's Way is like that. What it lacks is made up in other ways. The choreography is above average, the CGI seamless and the set pieces pure art. And it's all cleverly portrayed, captured and presented. An enjoyable little gem from the genre.

Debutant director and screen writer Sngmoo Lee took a big gamble with this one, as you will see why. In an almost Quintin Tarantino styled narration, the prologue introduces us to Yang (Jang Dong-Gun) and his mission to become 'The World's Greatest Swordsman…Ever'. He does so, within the first five minutes of the movie, by vanquishing an entire enemy clan; all but one…an infant princess. Rather than thrusting his Samurai sword through the toddler, Yang has a change of heart and decides to head West, because sooner or later, his own clan will hunt him down for not finishing the job. Arriving at a desolate town rife with down and out circus freaks, Yang finds work in an old Laundromat. Before long, he befriends 8-Ball, a wise cracking midget (Tony Cox), Ron, a hopeless drunk (Geoffrey Rush) and the sassy knife throwing Lynne (Kate Bosworth). With the infant in safe custody, Yang learns of Ron and Lynne's tragic past. An ex-bank robber, Ron laid down his guns at the wish of his dying wife. Lynne on the other hand, watched her family brutally murdered by an outlaw called 'Colonel'. Even as Yang blends in with the town folk, he realizes that a storm is approaching; a storm dark enough to wipe out the entire town.

Produced by Barrie M Osborne, you would expect this film to have the same grandeur as his previous productions, most notably, THE MATRIX and THE LORD OF THE RINGS trilogy. In fact, the opening sequence is interesting enough to grab your attention. What follows in the middle is a dialogue based drama that has a very theatre production feel to it. However, it's the last 20 minutes that has all the action that we are promised in the beginning. But is it worth the wait? In high definition, close-ups of flying bullets and blood rinsed blades look cool. Ninjas floating in and out of the action add an extra oomph, complemented by an equally engrossing soundtrack. Director Lee was also prudent enough to not leak out the best moments in pre-release trailers. But at the end of it all, if you enjoyed Zack Snyder's carnage in 300, don't go expecting anything better in this film. Sure, one particular scene even has the protagonist slicing and dicing a hoard of endless enemies in a fashion similar to those six-packed Greek warriors, but that's about all the comparison you can make to 300. Lee is generous with scenes of blood splatter towards the end, but manages to keep guts and gore to a minimum. Special effects vary in depth as well as quantity, and so you never get too much or too little of it. Perhaps that has all to do with the pacing of the plot. This is precisely where Lee could have done better. In terms of the pace, what I got was an interesting opening sequence, followed by a slow mid-section, only to be concluded by an intense yet rushed ending. While other critics might support Lee's pacing with "character building", this reviewer is opinionated by the fact that action movies do not deliver a knockout punch if action itself is inconsistently paced.

Playing the titled character, Dong-gun is no Jet Li, nor Jackie Chan; maybe because this is not a kung-fu movie. But what level of acting can you expect from Dong-gun, when he does a lot of the talking with just his facial expressions while relying on some fancy moves to do the rest? Having said that, whoever says Jet Li or Jackie Chan can act must be a really big fan of either or both. Opposite Dong-gun is Kate Bosworth in a role that easily outdoes her Lois Lane from SUPERMAN RETURNS (2006). Vibrant, cheeky, and energetic, this has to be one of Bosworth's best performances to date. Then there is Geoffrey Rush of PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN fame. Although given little screen time, Rush does steal some of Dong-gun's miserly thunder and plays a key role towards the end. Also worth mentioning is Danny Huston as (one) of the bad guys, while ironically also offering some of the film's lighter moments.

So there you have it. THE WARRIOR'S WAY has its moments, good and bad, watchable or otherwise. If you overlook the slow pace in-between (during what seems like forever) and the lead actor's lack of emotion or enthusiasm (he is an assassin anyway), then Sngmoo Lee could be given the benefit of the doubt for an otherwise decent action flick, inclusive of some exceptional cinematography.