Jan
19
2008
The Warlords
Posted by luna6 7 Comments
Movie Review : The Warlords | Tau ming chong | 投名狀
Release Date : December 12, 2007
Country : China
Director : Peter Chan
Starring : Jet Li, Andy Lau, Takeshi Kaneshiro
Runtime : 127 min
Rating : 6.5
Users Rating: 7.93 
(14 votes)
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Being a long time Asian movie aficionado this may sound a bit odd, but “The Warlords” would be the first movie that I have seen featuring action film star Jet Li. Plenty of his U.S. movies were shown here, but not being a fan of the chop em up, sock em up type of films, I usually passed. I would have probably done the same with “The Warlords,” except the film also stars Andy Lau (Infernal Affairs) and Takeshi Kaneshiro (Chunking Express). While, “The Warlords” didn’t floor me in the same way as “Curse of the Golden Flower,” Jet Li certainly did impress in the movie.
In “The Warlords” General Pang (Jet Li) is shown as the lone survivor of a gruesome battle that wiped out all of his 1,600 army of men. Pang only managed to survive the slaughter by playing dead. He then walks into a desolate village and collapses in front of a women named Lina. She takes cares of him throughout the night.
In the morning, Pang finds the lady gone and soon after encounters a group of bandits led by WuYang (Takeshi Kaneshiro). They then get into a tussle, with WuYang coming away impressed by Pang’s fighting skills. Consequently, the bandits take Pang back to their enclave and introduces him to their leader Er-Hu (Andy Lau). Pang also discovers that Lian (the lady that took care of him) is Er-Hu’s wife.
Pang now lives with bandits, all the while calculating his next move. Opportunity strikes when the bandits are defeated by a rival group that is better armed. Pang proposes to the bandits that they join the Army (to get better weapons and much needed supplies). The bandits decide to take Pang’s advice but first WuYang, Er-Hu, and Pang make a blood pact to become brothers in arms.
What follows next is a litany of battles, as Pang’s group, with the government’s backing, attacks nearby cities. They find the most difficulty in taking over the city of Suzhou. Pang then decides to go back to the government officials to seek reinforcements. Meanwhile Er-Hu crosses into the heavily fortified city of Suzhou to seek a peaceful resolution to their standoff. Pang is unsuccessful in gaining more help from the government officials, so he then turns to a rival group. For their help, he offers to take out the city of Nanjing next and split the profits with them 50/50. When Pang arrives back in Suzhou, he finds that the Suzhou soldiers have surrendered with the promise from Er-Hu that they would be free to leave and given supplies. This goes contrary with Pang’s own plans to attack Nanjing and now these two sworn brothers find themselves at odds.
The battles found in “The Warlords” were impressive in a realistic manner. You won’t find the ultra-colorful style of say a Yimou Zhang film, but rather the dark gloomy style found in recent War World II films. There’s also plenty of bloodshed as the warring factions decapitates its rivals one by one. Personally, I watched way to many dramas of late and enjoyed with glee all the gory violence found in “The Warlords”.
Jet Li’s performance, which I understand is a departure of sorts for him, was impressive. He played a ruthless character, whose lone allegiance lies with himself. He was thoroughly believable and charismatic in a despicable kind of way. Li’s counterpart Andy Lau held a less dynamic role, but he certainly held his own when on screen with Jet Li. Problems did arise with the third brother WuYang.
I’m a fan of Takeshi Kaneshiro and remember like it was only yesterday his utterly captivating performance in “Chunking Express.” With that said, he did stick out like a sore thumb in “The Warlords.” As much as his pop star good looks works for him in certain films, it was a hindrance here. He looked out of place as WuYang and his performance was just as bad. The amount of tears he was constantly required to shed also became grating with every passing moment. Meanwhile, the relationship between General Pang and Lian was never believable. We’re told that they loved each other, but our senses tells us otherwise. This was probably caused by a lack of chemistry between those two and the lack screentime they spent together.
With “The Warlords” you do get a plethora of epic battle scenes that will probably draw its share of oohs and aahs. Jet Li should also be commended for his convincing portrayal of a complicated and ultimately ruthless character. The story itself was a tad cornball, while the love affair lacked from the beginning. The attractiveness of the movie doesn’t reside on the cerebral level but more from the guts. Ultimately, “The Warlords” is mostly an entertaining film that should sell a boatload of tickets, popcorn, and cokes.
Cast:
Jet Li – General Pang
Andy Lau – Er-Hu
Takeshi Kaneshiro – Wu Yang
Jinglei Xu – Lian
If you like this movie you may enjoy: Curse of the Golden Flower, The Banquet
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2007 Movie Reviews, Chinese Movies, Movie Reviews, Movies |
Comments
7 Comments so far
Hmm..hola Panda, never would have guessed you were into that…but interesting.
I haven’t seen too many Jet Li movies but I did happen to catch Hero when it opened in US theatres. The action sequences were amazing, far beyond your run-of-the-mill fight scenes if I remember rightly. But what really made the movie for me was the core scene where the character of Jet Li encounters the emperor, fascinating. There is a political statement in it that may/may not exist in a subtle/not so subtle way in regards to China’s relationship to Taiwan or Tibet disguised in the veil of historical legend. Fascinating to see even though I don’t agree with it.
Thanks for the tip Rico will do.
I would recommend the movie unleashed/danny the dog if you want to check out some other movie from jet li, because that one actually is a good movie storywise and is not all about the fighting.
LOL Princess Bride! :D :D
Ok, If I get the oppurtunity I will check those out, but….if they suck… “Hiiiii-YAHHH !!!” (you killed my father, prepare to die).
You really should do yourself a favor and watch some his early films, they’re highly entertaining. Once Upon a Time in China or The Legend of Fong Sai-Yuk are excellent. But then again I love the chop em up, sock em up type of films… :-)