Tuesday, April 6, 2010

The Warlords - 2 1/2 smiles

“The Warlords,” starring Jet Li, Andy Lau and Takeshi Kaneshiro, has epic battle sequences and classic themes of loyalty, betrayal and ambition. That’s what works. What doesn’t work is a romance between Li and Wu Jing-Lei’s characters and the shifting focus from the smaller story of the three men to the larger elements of political maneuvering. In the 1860s, Taiping Rebellion forces are crushing the Chinese army. Pang (Jet Li), a general that lost his men to a betrayal, is humiliated by having to play dead on the battlefield to survive. He’s captured by Er-Hu (Andy Lau) and Wu Yang (Takeshi Kaneshiro), leaders of a troop of thieves. Pang convinces them to join the Chinese military efforts, creating a powerful army of outlaws. The three are successful in battle after battle, with Pang looking to restore the honor he lost. As the years pass, Er-Hu and Wu Yang grow weary of fighting and Pang’s fierce determination that continually pushes them onward. Things are further complicated by Pang’s growing affection for Er-Hu’s mistress, Lian (Wu Jing-Lei).

The screenplay is credited to eight writers, which, perhaps, explains some of the choppiness in the narration. You see, we have multiple lead characters, a group of old men who continually pit one general against another, an empress hovering in the background, and lots of brutal skirmishes with sharp blades glinting and limbs flying. Towards the end, director Peter Ho-Sun Chan turns on the soap opera hysterics to illustrate acts of betrayal, with Lau and Kaneshiro doing their best to demonstrate their suffering. Jet Li is a little more restrained with a tear falling now and then. “The Warlords” is potent stuff, but only marginally successful in pulling you into the story of three blood brothers. Subtitles. 4/4/10

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

This ambitious epic has all the makings of an Asian classic. An heroic war story of strategy and a “blood and guts” classic. It’s subtitled so not that many people will see it in the U.S. Too bad, it’s a good movie.