Visitors Review

Jon Death (2012-05-26 08:23)

Can you turn that up to 11?

This movie recaptures the magic that seems to have been lost after theearly 90's. You all remember E.T., The Never Ending Story, The Crow,The Karate Kid and the massive list from this generation that is oversatisfyingly long. Then at some point in the mid 90's, the corporationsseemed to become run by robotic automation and it's well under a dozenfilms per decade that embody the magic of that era.This film has it all and is one for the family if your kids are vergingon teen years. One review claims no substance and I must thoroughlydisagree, it's a very well rounded, evenly spread substance with theaction and characterization so liberal it's spilling over. You keepwanting more, you keep getting more but unlike the open endings of theera we all so long for, I doubt there will ever be a sequel.Unfortunately that's just the way this business now works but, onepriceless gem is most definitely better than none. Well worth the costof owning.

vipher20 (2012-05-25 12:16)

Meh....Pretty disappointing in light of what could have been an awesome movie.

The concepts are great. A ninja movie with the smooth cool effectsyou'd hope for, some cinematography reminiscent of 300, and the oldwest verses ninjas. How cool is that? Well....unfortunately, not ascool as you'd think. There was a clip on Xbox Live that shows the first2 minutes of the movie. The crummy thing is, after that first twominutes of setting up the stylish ninja effects and sword play...youdon't see anymore of it till about the last 20 minutes of the movie.And that's exaggerating. Quick fight scene at the start. Long actionscene at the end. And all the stuff in between is mush. I'm not sayingI don't enjoy a movie with a good plot, but c'mon...there was onlyreason why any guy went to see this movie---ninjas...and cowboys VERSESninjas. They didn't go to watch a lengthy story about a ninja fallingin love and getting soft. Me and my buddies were really stoked aboutthis movie going in, but I just really can't say it was that great. Iactually liked the cinematography and the sets, but it just didn't useit enough to it's advantage. And to be honest, I really wasn't thatimpressed by the sword play. It was like the main character was nevertouched and he only had one move--slice. There wasn't any fancyflipping around and doing crazy stunts. It was just: ninja comes athim, he slices, they die. Rinse and repeat. No special way of doing it,just the same move every time. It didn't even look like any trainingwas necessary. They just handed him the fake sword and told himwhenever a guy gets near him, swing at 'em, and we'll add the blood inlater.The only other thing I can say is that Kate Bosworth's accent wasTERRIBLE and annoying. I know it was supposed to be a little thick, butthat was just a little much. And the funny thing was, as the movieprogressed, it got less thick.Anyways, wait for this to come out on DVD at best. Believe me, this isnot nearly as cool as it could, or SHOULD, have been.

KineticSeoul (2012-05-23 21:39)

Decent idea, but poorly executed direction but great action sequences

I am not really a fan of Jang Dong-gun, but that is the main reason Idecided to watch this movie. Since he is a popular actor in SouthKorea, despite the negative reviews it's been getting the trailerdidn't seem that bad. Although you can't judge a movie from thetrailers alone. Also because it has Geoffrey Rush in it, so thought themovie would be good since he decided to play a role. The cross betweenmystical east and cliché west elements worked alright and goes in a bitof a cartoonish direction. Maybe it's because of the cheap CGIbackgrounds. The movie has some good ideas but the execution is donepoorly. The plot is basically about a very skilled swordsman gettingsome humanity within after keeping the baby of his enemy instead ofkilling her and meeting certain folks. The conflict kicks in when hispast comes to disrupt the peace while also having to deal with one ofthe town's girl's haunting past. So yeah besides the clash of easternand western in some aspects, the plot is cliché and predictable for themost part. The bonding parts which take up most of the running time wasdull is dull and boring to watch. During the whole time I wasconstantly just wondering when the action is going to kick back in. Theconnection between the plot and the action sequences work though, infact when the main action sequences kick back in it's non stopentertainment. Mainly because the action sequences are choreographedvery well and very entertaining to watch.6.4/10

zstrankman-138-290214 (2012-05-23 06:44)

tired, boring film.

This film had me excited. Im a fan of Asian/Martial Arts films and havebeen for some time. The first films i got into as a child were theNinja movies of the 80's with Sho Kasugi. Enter The Ninja, AmericanNinja, and so on were the films that i would pass by as a 10 year oldand someday hope either be old enough to watch them, or get someoneover 18 to rent them for me. that happened eventually and i would beand still am a very hard follower of that particular genre. i could goand on about the merits of Eastern Asain cinema, but that is anotherconversation altogether. on to The Warriors Way. This film started outreally interesting. As other reviewers have stated, the lighting,cinematography, and initial action scenes are all something to behold.those aspects will keep your attention, they held mine, for roughlyabout 20-30 minutes. then something happens. i don't know if it was thestory, the tone the film wants to try and take on, or the pacing, but icompletely checked out after the first slice em' dice em' with dannyhuston even the over the top action wasn't enough to keep me into this.swords are flying through the air, the films baddies and good guys arebeing shaped, and the story is starting to take hold. mind you, allthese things were happening but i was staring at my computer, trying tolearn about Android updates. i haven't been this uninterested in a filmsince that horrible mess Ballistics : Ecks vs Sever. at least that oneis soooo bad you can laugh at it. this, on the other hand, is trying sohard to be something its not. and this review wouldn't be completewithout mentioning Kate Bosworth's performance. she is absolutelyawful. thats all i need to say about that. annoyingly bad accent,terrible delivery of her lines, and some of the worst slo-motion facesi have ever seen any actor put forth. a couple of the moments i wasn'tsure if she was delivering a tense action scene, or straining to pushout a fat poop. imagine a schizophrenic, psychopath making hellishlyweird faces on the toilet after being constipated for 2 weeks and you'dbe close. end of story. this movie blows, bottom line. its just getsdumber and dumber as it expires. in the end, it just ends up being apoorly made, over budgeted piece of tripe. avoid. rent Ninja Assassininstead. at least that one is really fun to watch.4/10

grant-jury (2012-05-23 16:14)

Visually stunning and great trip

This IS a fun movie, don't let any one tell you otherwise, it takes theviewer on a multi-paced journey. One moment the action is so franticand franetic your left thinking 'what just happened?? ... then the nextmoment your lulled into the surreal landscape, wonderful costumes andexcellent soundtrack, just a little on the soundtrack at most times themusic matched perfectly and beautifully to the screen then other timesthe music formed an almost comical juxtaposition.. great stuff!!...Then BANG your dragged back from all the serenity into a "kill Bill"stylised gore fest... its genere is best described as Hong Kong "fightby wire" martial arts meets spaghetti western meets Tarentino meets"300" All in all this makes a nicely blended, tough dude protects thegirl kills lots of other bad guys, "all for redemption" movie ..Nothing new in overall plot except the nice twists that keep u guessingand going WOW,, thats cool and different. In summary.. .your sense ofReality is best left parked at the door .. just watch the the greatfilm/CG imagery, fantastic costumes and a have fun time,,, sit back andenjoy,,

davideo-2 (2012-05-23 03:29)

A total waste of time you have to wonder why they bothered making

STAR RATING: ***** Saturday Night **** Friday Night *** Friday Morning** Sunday Night * Monday Morning Yang (Dong-gun Jang) is a warrior with the Sad Flutes (so named afterthe sound enemies apparently make when their throats are slit!), who iswondering lonely in the wilderness. He wonders into a decaying ghosttown, where a travelling circus have taken refuge, although they areliving in the grip of a tyrannical colonel (Danny Huston), includingLynne (Kate Bosworth) who's father he murdered. Yang teaches the peopleto rise up and fight back, whilst battling his own inner demons andfacing up to adversaries from his own past which are threatening totear him apart.With curious touches of graphic novel and spaghetti western throughout, Sngmoo Lee's film tries to copy the style of superior films likeHouse of the Flying Daggers with it's martial arts sequences, but theeffect couldn't look more desperate. A painfully clichéd, predictablestory which lacks any sense of style or substance to set it apart fromany other sort of film like this, with a weak villain in Huston and asimilarly apathetic hero with Jang, whilst renowned thesp Geoffrey Rushis unrecognisable in a supporting role and pint size Tony Cox can'treprise his Bad Santa aggressive short guy act to such great effect. Asthe heroine, Bosworth is the only one who gives the film any sort ofgusto in the acting stakes.The art of making a really decent comic book style movie really doesseem to be fading these days, and this latest addition is one of theworst examples in ages. *

bck (2012-05-22 09:06)

Entertaining, enjoyable and visually stunning

Seriously, give this one a chance. For one, this is truly some beautiful cinema with striking set-ups, beautiful photography and gorgeous imagery, mostly courtesy of fancy CG work à la "300". Take in the insane yet awesome guns vs. swords fight sequence (like you didn't see that coming based on the posters) and you just might forgive its shortcomings.Okay, so on to the details. The fairly straight-forward tale follows Yang (as listed in the credits, played by Korean star Jang Dong Gun, although he's called different names throughout) as he defeats the last of his enemy to become "The Greatest Swordsman In The World". Except that his enemy has left behind a little baby girl. Instead of utterly finishing off the very last of his enemy, he adopts the baby girl and we're seemingly in a "Lone Wolf and Cub" territory as the warrior and child begin a trek away from his past. Yang is pursued by the rest of his clan because of this.Yang leaves the mysterious Eastern world (we're not told where exactly he's from, not quite looking like a samurai or a Chinese warrior, while those he fights do look like a cross between ninjas and something Chinese) for the Far West, ending up in a decaying and crumbling town called Lode looking for a friend. He is told that his friend has passed, and with the help of Lynne (Kate Bosworth) who calls him Skinny, Yang takes over his friend's Laundry business, forging a new and seemingly peaceful life for himself and the child. As these movies go, it's never so simple and his past, as well as Lynne's past, catches up.There is nothing spectacular in terms of acting although Jang plays his character as you would expect of a weary cold-eye warrior, i.e. cool or awesome when drawn to action, but a little weak in the softer scenes. Bosworth appears to have a little more life to her character, seemingly having fun with her role for the most part although a little wanting when her big action scene comes up. Danny Huston and Geoffrey Rush also appear to be having fun with their characters, Huston a little more so, relishing the villainy he gets to play with. It's cool seeing Hong Kong star, Ti Lung, on screen again although he hasn't anything to do beyond appearing as a token guest star and speaking with gravitas. And then there's a really colourful cast of characters in some circus folk who have taken residence in the town and are building a massive ferris-wheel that provides an interesting backdrop to the town's scenery.The action scenes are cool and fun to watch, bordering on utterly silly at some points (involving a Gatling gun, for one), but again, it can easily be forgiven. One key scene I like is when Yang is training Lynne in knife fighting. Very simply choreographed so that it's not too flashy, but very nicely shot too. Overall, it's not outstanding, but it is entertaining and enjoyable, and very pretty looking movie.

Neil Welch (2012-05-21 23:07)

Weird but engaging

This is the weirdest movie I've seen for some time. Think choreographedmartial arts ninja movie, crossed with spaghetti western, telling astory from the old Kung-Fu TV series, set in that semi-derelict townbuilt in the middle of a pile of sand from Jonah Hex (assuming you werethe other person who saw Jonah Hex), filmed in the style of 300. WithGeoffrey Rush playing the Lee Marvin character from Cat Ballou. KateBosworth channeling Doris Day as Calamity Jane (Ya dang varmint!"), andDanny Huston playing (another) bizarre villain. Oh, and for reasonswhich completely escaped me, there is a circus in town, which isbuilding a fairground (very slowly) in the expectation that this willbring the crowds and rejuvenate the town. Well, they get the crowdsalright - the first crowd is murderous outlaws and the second crowd ismurderous ninjas. And neither of them appears to be there to have funon the carousel.This felt very much as if it was an adaptation of a comic, but I'm notsure it was. It is beautifully photographed - very striking visually -fairly violent, often quite amusing, and always engaging. The warrior -Yang - is played emotionlessly by Dong-gun Jang, a name which may meansomething to you if you follow martial arts movies, but which meansnothing to me.And it's left open for a sequel. I'd happily go to a sequel, I quiteenjoyed this strange film.

jssgarden (2012-05-19 21:58)

This is NOT your ordinary action movie!!!

First of all, this is not your ordinary action movie, so don't expectany fast pace kung- fu/martial arts in here. There are action scenes,but they're more like spice to add to the story than the main purposeof the movie. Have you questioned why the all the scenes looked soartificial? All the actions was in slow motion? You can find every kindof stereotypes in here and the plot is extremely predictable? BecauseTHEY'RE SUPPOSED TO BE LIKE THAT. Think of this movie like.. a folk tale that you read in a HansChristian Anderson's book. You open the book, it talked about awarrior's journey. He ran from the bads, he met friends, he foundpeace, he fought with the bads to protect the peace. Finally, he foughtwith the biggest enemy which is himself. He realized he can't stay, hecontinued his journey. End of story. It is a folk tale story that'stranslated to the big screen.The main thing is the humanity that liedunderneath. Anyone who expected more than that, really didn't grap themain point of this story. We went to watch this movie on my friend's 21st birthday. And yes ihave seen people left in the first 30 mins of the movie. But if youdon't stay till the end of the movie, you're missing the main point ofit. I liked it, most of my friends liked it, only one didn't like it.Therefore, with this type of movie, you either hate it or love it.This movie was directed by a Korean director, and this is his DEBUT. Ithought this is pretty good for a debut product. If anyone familiarwith Korean movies, unlike other movies, Korean movies tend to bereally slow pace, since they take their time to develop the story, aswell as the nature of the characters. Therefore, Korean movie usuallyhave deep meaning behind the scenes, and the characters development isricher, but you won't know unless you stay till the end. This movie isno exception.

VWstarwars (2012-05-19 10:20)

As Bad As "King Solomon's Mines" in the 80's, Worse!

I'm not sure what studio people or crew/family are associated withdowning everybody's negative critique of this dorky piece of junk, butman, you people are trying to silence some truth, big time! Wow, thismovie was awful! Kate Bosworth is terrible in this movie. I haven't seen anything elseshe's done that I remember her much from, but judging by this, "Shecan't act!" Holy Crap! The worst attempt at a southern accent. Nobodytalks that way in the south, Kate, nor the west. Who the hell was yourcoach for this? I read in another review where she almost ruins themovie by herself and I'll be damned if that isn't accurate . . . Idon't want to be mean, but know what you can do and can't do. We aretalking about supposedly humorous lines and situations making peopleshake their heads instead of laughing.Our main actor has no lines almost and the lines we do hear are deadpanand stiff. He really just walks around and looks at everyone andeverything with a blank expression.How fake can a movie get? I realize people were temporarily excited byCGI in films, but man, is it becoming increasingly bad and cheaplooking. You can see where the sets end! With the old Hollywood mannerof shooting everything in studio with rear projections, we have theexact same thing using modern technology. It really does not look anybetter, which would be okay if the story, directing and acting worked,but it does not here! To all who remember "King Solomon's Mines," we have her ugly kid sisterright here.

(2012-05-18 05:19)

Warrior Way review

In Sngmoo Lee's directorial depute he as the honor of directing AcademyAward® Winner Geoffrey Rush, and Kate Bosworth, Danny Huston andInternational Korean sensation Jang Dong Gun, from the highest grossingKorean film "Friend" star in this overly stylized martial arts westernmash-up.After a lifetime of training as a assassin or soldier in some grandbattle between families, the world's most dangerous swordsman/samuraiYang (Jang Dong-gun) with the exodus of his homeland and well-trainedobedient warrior clan, to start a new life in the American West after achange of heart when practically single-handedly slaughtering hisrival's army, our hero spares a newborn child. Yang and the orphan findthe beat-down town of Lode, "The Paris of the West" a home for outcast,circus performers, an old drunks (Geoffrey Rush), and a knife-thrower(Kate Bosworth) who is looking for revenge & redemption from "TheColonel" (Danny Huston) a sadistic rapist for killing her family as achild. Yang takes Kate Bosworth as his student. Soon "The Colonel" andhis gang wage an all-out war against the town. "The Warrior" Yang mustlead the town into an epic battle. Meanwhile Yang's old master and hisarmy of Ninjas hear the call of Yang's weeping sword, "yes you heardright, the weeping sword". Let me explain, when the sword is unsheathedthe swords weeps for all the lives it took. Lame as all hell.The film begins as cartoonish as it ends; with over the topchoreographed fight sequences and gravity-defying stunts and over thetop cg, annoying coolness, fans of 300 will love this film. I'mconsidering on starting a campaign in which studios are forced toreveal the percentage of cg to practical effects on all releases, Ithink people will be surprised on the number. I want to know if I'mwatching cartoon or not. We are constantly reminding that the actorsare interacting in front of a green screen, taking us out of the film."Or am I the only one that cares" Very much influences by comic bookand video game action, not to mention cheesy video game duologue whichseemed to be written by a 14 year old or a video game designer thatknows very little about storyteller just regurgitating images and linesthey thought sounded cool in other movies. Fortune cookie freshmaneastern philosophy one liners.If there is a silver cg lining in this disgrace of a western is thenarration of the great Geoffrey Rush, with his worn growl of a voicewhich acts of story teller to this thing called a film. Geoffrey Rushis one of the most honest actors still working, and yet again he iswasted in another bad movie. Kate Bosworth a true beauty and wonderfulactress and like Rush just wasting away in bad movies.Our maincharacter Yang (Jang Dong Gun) played with a great stockiness', aclassic character type "man with no name" a stereo type that exist in agood number of westerns. A story told a thousand times over – the hardman trying to make amends putting down his weapons taking the straightand narrow, only to be pulled back into the world he is trying toescape.With a bit of Sergio Leone campyness – without that small sense Leone'srealism this is truly a Jonah Hex companion piece, at least in samelevel of quality. Trying to play a bit on the surrealism of Kung FuHustle but missing badly on the entertainment value.A little past midpoint the film screeches to a halts with a meanderinglaughable pointless series of scenes with Geoffrey Rush and JangDong-gun having "deep thoughts" at the desert garden which now growsbeautiful foliage.Dead horses on the battlefield attempting to evoke Akira Kurosawa "forshame Sngmoo Lee , for shame". Jang Dong Gun is a true talent and hasall the potential of crossing over to an American audience with theright role choices; this is diffidently not the right vehicle for him.He has great look about him and a natural ease on camera, he has beencompares to a younger Chow Yun-Fat, yes unfair and a little racist, notevery new young Asian actor that has moderate success in the US shouldfeel that measurement.At the conclusion and what should have been most climactic scene in themovie – with the grand, epic long awaited show down with the greatestswordsman in the world and the teacher that taught him everything heknows, once again the films crescendo completely breaks down with ameaningless flashback. And the movie is over… the after the fact caperis laughable, I'll just let you witness that on your own. If your not14years old you should not like this movie… -Will- nerdvanainc.com

Masteroftheweb (2012-05-17 12:19)

Don't expect a mindless Action fest

From the reviews I've glanced at so far, people seem to have gone into this expecting another "Ninja Assassin" where there is non stop violence for the majority of the movie. What they got, however, was a excellently told story that was silly at times, while still being serious enough to maintain interest. What I enjoyed most about the movie, was how beautiful the visuals were.That being said, I truly think the movie was worth the time and money. I might even see it again.

dbborroughs (2012-05-17 03:40)

Style over substance mix of genres will bore some delight others

Kung Fu Spaghetti Western about a warrior from the East sparing thelife of a baby of an opposing clan and fleeing to the American Westwith the baby in tow.Its a form over content film that mixes genres and styles intosomething that is going to be loved by some and hated by others thenagain depending upon mood ones attitude may change.The visual style is very much a manga infused style that comes fromdoing the film on blue/ green screen backgrounds. Everything is real,yet hyper stylized. Weare dealing with arch-types and characters andnot really real people which is fine. Arguing against the film becauseit isn't realistic is kind of missing the point, this is the cinematicequivalent of a boo hiss vaudeville show.The film riffs and borrows from dozens of films both from the east andwest. From Lone Wolf and Cub, to Django, to 300 to Casshern to Immortelto well take your pick.I like it but I don't love it. Part of the reason it didn't really workfor me is Kate Bosworth who gives too mannered a performance. If shehadn't tried so hard it would have been better.I do think it's worth seeing, however I'm kind of torn in that thevistas look good on the big screen but the film isn't really worthpaying full movie prices.

effigiebronze (2012-05-16 08:02)

My Daughter Loved It.

With some trepidation I took my 10-year-old, video game loving daughterto see her very first R-rated movie; the reason? "Dad, it has NinjasAND Cowboys!" Her review? "It was AWESOME!" Later, in the car, shetalked about it for an hour and declared it "EPIC." I was okay with thecontent; the bloodiness is more 'anime', less 'SAW XXII', and althoughthere was a subtext of sexual assault, it wasn't terribly explicit. Formyself, I liked it quite a bit. It did exactly what most movies aresupposed to do: require a suspension of disbelief, remove you from yourown reality, and transport you elsewhere for two hours or so. Thismovie fills that requirement in exemplary fashion. In that regard it istopnotch, and I gave it an above average review for that reason. Is ithigh art? No, not really, although some of the set design (I guessthat's what you call today's computer-driven environments in movies) isamazing and striking, rivaling some of the best of, yes I'll say it,John Ford's Westerns. The fight scenes for once make honest use of theslow-fast motion technique pioneered in the MATRIX movies; they maketotal sense and don't seem contrived. One of the best examples of this,I think, is the insertion of an anachronistic machine gun, where it'sused as a punctuating, percussive beat during a shootout/fight scene!Whacked out and bizarre, it's to this movie's credit that, in itsuniverse, it seems totally rational. That's how 'out there' thisflicker gets. It was an excellent way to spend an afternoon, and much,much better than a standard-issue time-waster. We'll rent it and watchit again, for sure.

kiethe (2012-05-14 04:59)

Different, Strange and fun!

Just saw it and really enjoyed it. Very different looking, marching to It's own beat and is just plain fun. It felt like the filmmaker's were just thinking "we're just gonna do it the way we want to with our limited budget, and we're gonna put ninjas in a western with clowns and steampunk cowboys!"Something different from the typical Hollywood action retread.I hope it does well but I fear most of the typical drone moviegoers will pan it because it IS different.

priyantha-bandara (2012-05-13 22:28)

Not quite impressive

Have you seeing the 'Crouching Tiger the Hidden Dragon' type cable workbefore? And did you like it? Or are you a fan of movies like Jet Li's"Hero" and 'House of Flying Draggers'? Then 'The worriers way' is the movie for you. It has cutting edgedigital cinematography combined with assassins who moves at lightningspeed yielding ultra-sharp shiny swards which can divide an hair in totwo. This movie is simply magnificent cable work and computer graphicswith a plot that binds the western and eastern together and punch youin the face and kick you in the gut. Yang is a skilled worrier assassin who ultimately is the best swordsmanon the planet. After killing his enemy clan for ages he finallyapproach to finishing them for good. But he find it to be difficult toassassinate a baby who is the final living thing of the enemy clan,thus decides to elope with her leaving his clan knowing he will facegreat danger. Travelling from far and far with the baby, and protectinginfant and himself from the attacks from his own clan he reaches alonely circus town in the middle of a western desert. There he findslife with new friends while working hard but does not remain at peacefor long when the towns original troubles decide to kick in. Yang findhimself yet again in the killing business but not to revenge but toprotect the innocent.'The worriers way' is not exactly the type of movie which will keep youat the edge of your seat. It does have some action sequences andmoments of thrill but for me it was not really surprising. At somesequences I felt them to be too good to be true. Like I mentionedbefore the whole movie has a decent mood to it. Mostly created by CGenvironment and applied color schemes. The whole movie is not natural.It looks like a remake of a graphic novel and has its own art to it. If sward and martial art action is your type then you might reallywatch it from start to end. Believe me the opening scene is breathtaking. Which will give you a good hint of what to expect throughout. more reviews at flickshout.blogspot.com

Emad Nabil (2012-05-13 12:17)

atmospheric action

I regret watching this movie at home and not at the movie theater.these kind of movies are much more enjoyable specially on the bigscreen. The movie has a magic to it and atmosphere that is very wellportrayed.I loved the hero character being the " silent and deadly " type, itsaved the script and boosted up the acting.If you are into samurai and warrior's from the east and such Idefinitely recommend this movie, it successfully managed to combineswordsman skills with cowboy gun fights, which I never seen before. themovie is very stylish and they did a great job with the atmosphericeffects.

johnnyboyz (2012-05-12 21:26)

While clearly capable of working within certain genre boundaries and with that of green screen, Sngmoo Lee's film is little of what we haven't seen and a lot of what we have.

The Warrior's Way plays like a montage of the better bits out of rathergood films from decades gone by that you've already seen, to the pointthat one's enjoyment of this hodge-podge of a 2010 joint SouthKorean/New Zealand production relies solely as to whether or not you'refamiliar with them. If you are, the film will crawl along to itsstrained conclusion, albeit with some amusing 'bits' here and there asyou tick the proverbial boxes; if you aren't, you will take to the filma whole lot more than I did. The piece is a highly stylised, mostlydevoid of any originality, hybrid of two genres sharing common groundwith that of primary and secondary status; all of it playing out underthis odd canopy of post-Rodriguez/Tarantino homage. It is messy andmostly uninteresting, with an overall politic reading along the linesof warring; fighting and existing for such things can lead only on todestruction and the bringing about of great deals of pain and anguishto yourself and those around you - but damn, it sure as Hell can lookgood in the process.For all the cine-literate indulgences, it is ironic that the filmbegins with a sequence constructed as if straight out of a video game;a swordsman, the film's lead, stands alone in a field in this, 19thCentury China, and is ambushed by a glut of other swordsman beforereacting and dispatching them with consummate ease via an aestheticmost would refer to as "bullet time", even tough little in the way ofbullets are present. Having defeated the henchmen, each clad in theexact same garb as each other, he moves onto the 'boss' of thescenario, as is in the framework to a standard video game level, andeven dispatches him with similar levels of ease. It is then that he isdeclared as something along the lines of "the greatest swordsman tohave lived. Ever." - the inclusion of the "ever" symptomatic of whom itis the film's aimed at; that is to say, those moronic enough to thinkthe inclusion of said word at the end might make for 'cool' reading,and that pillaging the English language in such ways is acceptable.That lead is named Yang (Jang), the top hit-man with a clan of swordedwarriors whose mission to vanquish the lands of their enemies reaches ascreeching halt when their boy cannot kill the remaining member in theform of a baby infant. Taking off with it through some bamboo fieldswhilst chased by his own out of failure to carry out orders, in what isa sequence lifted straight out of 2004's House of Flying Daggers withthe presence of those old Lone Wolf and Cub films hovering over it all,he travels abroad and hides out in a ramshackle town in the AmericanOld West hoping to build a new life away from murder. If he releaseshis sword from the scabbard, it will be to kill; but these newfoundenemies will "hear" him do so: the status quo is mutual. Once there, hemeets and comes to love young Lynn (Bosworth); a knife thrower whompractises on a lowly, simplistic level by herself as Yang firstsaunters into town but will grow. She is a person with a sordidback-story of murder and terror; a back-story of which was instigatedby a still-active Confederate Colonol played by Danny Huston, asuitably nasty; suitably sadistic old coot sporting a Gerard ButlerPhantom of the Opera-style look complete with a low, gravelly voice inthe mould of Donald Sutherland who, like in most of these sorts offilms, is horrifically scarred in some way.Mingling about is Geoffrey Rush's town drunk Ron, a character whom isbarely anywhere at all for the first hour, but because it's GeoffreyRush and he feels out of place in this sort of film, we sense must playa larger part at some point before predictably turning up later on asthings reach a crescendo. His character has been a hardened alcoholicfor many years, now successfully kicking the habit, plucking a sniperrifle off of the shelves of fate and instantly triggering one'sclinical form of old back again – yeah, right. Feeding off of whatRodriguez did with Sin City, the film relies heavily on green screenedbackgrounds acting as vistas to all of this cranked up violence andaction unfolding amidst archetypes; the constant paying of homage tothe works of Morricone making it insulting to credit a certain JavierNavarrete as the composer and, like most oft-written Tarantino films,the thing ends with some kind of Mexican standoff following theintegration of two or more separate factions hitting one another headon – the chaos of the final act calling to mind that of From Dusk tillDawn, as a slam bang finale of violence arrives, during which theaforementioned Colonol antagonist has suddenly acquired skills in swordplay. It even finds room for a composition straight out of 1992's HardBoiled.It breaks down into a very simple equation, that is to say if one hasseen mostly any Hollywood western produced between 1935 and 1960, onewill not find anything in Sngmoo Lee's directed, Peter Jackson fundedpiece that is particularly new; if one has seen either Kung-fu Hustle,or heard any of the music from Sergio Leone's Spaghetti Westerns, oreven watched any of those recent, elegant Chinese films along the linesof Curse of the Golden Flower, then one has seen mostly everything thatmakes The Warriror's Way stick out as the aesthetically stately orviscerally exciting film that it might be. Devoid of originality, andarriving with a gloomy, heavy air about proceedings that doesn'tcompliment the pastiche ridden content in a way the similarly made TheGood, the Bad, the Weird did not fall foul of, The Warrior's Way is atrite and ambling effort.

Tj Gonz (2012-05-12 01:23)

I'm glad the haters don't like it.

It takes more effort to nit pick to find flaws in this beautiful filmthan to admit it kicks so much more a** than the crap that makesmillions upon millions for no reason. Please don't be swayed by theridiculous reviews and ratings..if you like creatively, visuallystunning films and have any unique taste at all you wont bedisappointing. This is the film aspiring directors wish they would havemade, including myself. Loved it. This is one of those special gemsthat some people will never understand and probably develop a cultfollowing someday, at least that is how it's seen in my eyes. Whatspleasing to me is it's Lord Of The Rings visual beauty without thenever-ending storyline that is impossible to sit through for hours uponhours. I'll be very frank, I am a guy not a robot that is disgustedwith any film not cookie-cutter and is edgy, yet simple.

Wayne Duda Ramadi (2012-05-11 19:44)

Terrible.

In the first ten seconds of the movie he is dragging his sword on theground with an odd flashy swagger that is a little bit off putting.Okay.NINJAS come out of no where, man that's... okay he's slashed them upliterally easier than a new lawn mower of grass...The greatest ninja that ever?! okay, he slashed that guy up too, eveneasier than the ninjas....a baby. laying in the middle of no where.So the sequence of events goes, ninjas, greatest ninja, baby.This movie is flashy garbage with no direction at all.ALL OF THAT happened in the first few minutes of the movie.