Film Review with Robert Mann – The Warrior’s Way

10th December 2010

The Warrior’s Way **½

Is the mere premise or title of films like Ninja Assassin and next year’s Cowboys Vs Aliens enough to get you excited about a movie? Because if it is then here is a film for you – cowboys vs. ninjas! Okay, the film is actually called The Warrior’s Way and the cowboys vs. ninjas element only really amounts to one sequence towards the end of the film but, based on the direction taken in the marketing, it is clear that this is the aspect of the film that the distributor wants to emphasise and the aspect that will most likely make people want to see this film.
A bringing together of East and West both in front of and behind the camera – the culture clash isn’t merely present in the film but also in the cast which brings together actors from both sides of the world – this may be an entirely concept driven film that will only really be fully appreciated by a fairly limited audience but it is also one that boasts a fairly impressive cast line up for a film of its type. The name of “international superstar” Jang Dong Gun may not mean much to that many people over her in the West but the South Korean actor is a big star where he comes from while the names that people will really be familiar with here are the likes of Geoffrey Rush, Kate Bosworth and Danny Huston, hardly the most prestigious cast line up ever put together but real actors nonetheless who bring something a little extra to what is primarily an action driven film. Of course, it is likely that few if any will be seeing The Warrior’s Way for its cast, they will be seeing it for its East vs. West action showcase – but does the film actually live up to the promise of its cowboys vs. ninjas showdown?

Trained from boyhood to be a master of the ancient arts of combat, Yang (Jang Dong Gun) is the greatest swordsman in the world. After refusing to kill a baby girl, he turns on his master and flees to America, taking the child with him. He arrives in a forgotten carnival town where he encounters a group of carnies led by Eight-Ball (Tony Cox) who welcome him with open arms. Among them is Lynne (Kate Bosworth), a fiery knife-thrower obsessed with revenge against The Colonel (Danny Huston), a sadistic outlaw who murdered her family. Lynne urges Yang to teach her the art of the sword, but Ron (Geoffrey Rush), the wise town drunk, warns Yang to keep moving. When his friends are threatened by The Colonel once again, along with his army of vicious Hell Riders, Yang is forced to unsheathe his sword, knowing the ring of its blade will reveal his location. The battle rises to an epic crescendo with the arrival of Yang’s terrifying foes from the Far East.

The Warrior’s Way is not a film that should be taken very seriously. This is something that is made clear by the casting – or should I say miscasting – of Tony Cox, who is completely wrong for the role he plays here and who ranks as the only cast member to not even attempt a period accent. It is also something that is made very clear from early on when the words “The greatest swordsman in the history of mankind” appear on the screen in text form, comic book style. This clearly indicates that this is going to be a film that embraces a more farcical comic book style of action hence anyone looking for anything with a more realistic edge will be disappointed with what the rest of the film has to offer. With both a look and feel that is very much in the comic book spirit and action that is very heavy on the CG effects, the fight sequences that are delivered here – which are, face it, what you’re going to see this film for – fall into the category of heavily stylized violence, lots of fake – or perhaps CG – blood being spilled and the action sequences generally proving quite entertaining, particularly the climactic battle royale which first sees the townspeople taking on the Hell Riders and then sees the ninjas thrown into the mix in a climax that combines Western style gun slinging action with Eastern martial arts/sword fighting and that is literally very explosive. This sequence is what the entire film really builds up to and for the most part it delivers the goods, proving to be rather exciting, but at the same time it is hard not to feel that more could have been made of the whole cowboys vs. ninja’s thing. Throughout the film, the action relies perhaps a bit too much on CGI and often fails to be original or inventive – the sight of a bullet flying through the air in slow motion brings to mind many other better action films. If there is one good thing that can be really be said about the film, however, it is that it often looks rather striking, sometimes even almost beautiful. It is clear that CG and green screen have been used for the backdrops and locales rather than physical sets but, rather than seeming explicitly cheap, it instead gives the film a very vibrant, different and colourful look and the actors do at least appear to be immersed in the CG environments. There is some quite beautiful imagery here, a kiss in the middle of the desert beneath a clear star lit sky being a prime example. Sadly, considering this is supposedly an action movie, aside from the climax, the film is rather low on the action, what there is often being too brief – this is particularly true of the fight that opens the film – and while it sometimes seems like the film is perhaps trying to be a sort of drama as much as it is an action movie, it completely fails at achieving this goal.

Writing is to blame for this, the story feeling very rushed, the plot being too inadequate to provide a truly engaging storyline and insufficient backstory being provided for the protagonist and with it little insight into what really motivates the character. Aside from a few flashbacks to his childhood years, we get no real indication as to what kind of person he really was before he begins his journey of redemption – which is perhaps the true focus of the film, rather than the action – and consequently we are not so aware what drives him. Unfortunately, what little backstory there is also let down by an overreliance on voiceover narration by Geoffrey Rush to put across things that really should be put across in the actual plot. Fortunately, the same issues don’t apply quite so heavily to another principal character, Lynne, who also gets some flashback scenes which detail the brutal murder of her family and give us valuable insight into what motivates her – and also why The Colonel has come to have a scarred face. Sadly, this is too little to overcome the many flaws elsewhere in the script. While it is clear that some effort has been made to provide authentic sounding dialogue, a lot of what there is still sounds uninspired and the characters have to speak lots of clichéd Western style one liners. Clichés are also present elsewhere, a shot towards the end of the protagonist walking off into the sunset being a classic staple of the Western movie and a one that can be viewed as either a homage or an unimaginative cliché here. Despite having unimaginative dialogue to work with, the cast largely fare decently. Geoffrey Rush makes a rather convincing drunk, even though it is hard not to feel that his talents are being wasted playing a character who spends a large chunk of the film completely wasted. Kate Bosworth delivers the perfect balance of tough and sexy, being adequately believable as a young woman out for revenge. Danny Huston is perhaps a bit pantomime as the villain but proves reasonably convincing as the sadistic and perverted Colonel. Jang Dong Gun is less impressive as an actor but does handle the action very well. And, Tony Cox aside, the cast pretty much all deliver convincing sounding period Western accents. Overall, first time writer and director Sngmoo Lee delivers a movie that proves just about competent overall but that fails to live up to the promise of its concept and that suffers from something of an identity crisis, seeming not quite sure as to what it is really supposed to be. The Warrior’s Way doesn’t fully satisfy with its action and lacks a strong enough storyline to bring all the pieces together but, in spite of its flaws, there is something quite entertaining about it all. You probably won’t be bothered about the hinted at sequel – “No, it is just the beginning” says Yang before starting another fight at which point the film comes to an abrupt end – which will never come but for an amusing diversion this film may just about satisfy, provided you don’t expect to be blown away.

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Review by Robert Mann BA (Hons)

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