In this day and age of the graphic novel and Manga translated movies, I was surprised to discover that The Warrior's Way was neither. It has the same stylized look made popular in such movies as 300 and Sin City, but unfortunately, doesn't have all the charm of those. Set in the late 1800's, a Japanese swordsman fails to fulfill his lifelong mission, subsequently, his clan now has him marked for death. He escapes with the last of the rival clan, an infant girl, running all the way to a desert town in its own death throes. I was expecting this to be a Cowboys vs. Ninjas slugfest throughout, but apparently this town is under the thumb of a corrupt military officer, who has more of a presence than the ninjas. I will readily admit that the battle scenes are very well done, showing the audience that, without a doubt, our hero is the best damn swordsman to walk the Earth. This movie appeard to me to be a combination of a highly stylized Yojimbo, mixed in with a splash of The Wild Bunch, Zatoichi for flavor, and a touch of Lone Wolf & Cub. All of that awesome could have been....well, awesome, but winds up feeling muddled and confused in its tone.
The acting is sufficiently over the top to put it in the comic book genre. Dong-Gun Jang is our silent badass hero, and the only actor to understate his performance. Geoffrey rush is hysterical as the town drunk/rifleman. Picture a less motivated, more drunk version of Captain Barbossa from the Pirates of the Carribean series. Kate Bosworth is Daniel to Jang's Miyagi. Danny Houston portrays, apparently with great relish, the supremely evil Colonel. WOW is he bad (evil bad, not performance bad).
Disappointing to say the least, I expected more from Warrior's Way. I don't know why I expected more, but it is what it is. A decent popcorn muncher if you aren't in the mood for one of your favorites, but you won't regret not seeing this one. 6.5/10.
Tomorrow's movie: I really wish I hadn't put in that this had to be for movies I haven't seen before, because I just watched the Blu-ray version of Back to the Future, and really want to review it here (one of my overall top 5 of all time). Oh well, ces't la vie. Guess I'll go with.....*thinking*...Seth Rogen in Observe and Report. See you then, and GO WATCH A MOVIE!!
As much as I like Seth Rogen, I thought Observe and Report was horrible - a complete waste of my time. I felt compelled to at least warn you! :)
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