Movie Review: The Warrior's Way (2010)

Release Date: 2010
Director: Sngmoo Lee
Writers: Sngmoo Lee
Studio: Sad Flutes
Rating: R
Run Time: 100 minutes

Plot Summary
Having established himself as the World's Greatest Swordsman by slaughtering almost every member of a rival clan of warriors, assassin Yang's (Dong-gun Jang) cold heart is thawed when confronted with the task of killing the last remaining clan member - an infant girl. Having now failed his own clan, Yang secrets himself and the baby away from China to the American West in an effort to disappear from the searching gaze of his clan master (Lung Ti). In America, Yang reaches a desolate, broken down town named Lode populated by a demoralized carnival troupe - and finds a new home. Although his new life consists of gardening, laundering (sheets, not money), and parenthood, the threat of violence is never far. The wild redhead Lynne (Kate Bosworth) takes a fancy to Yang from the start, but she harbors a violent past that is about to revisit Lode with a vengeance and unravel Yang's pacifism.

This is Lode
Review
First-time director Sngmoo Lee attempts to cover a lot of bases with The Warrior's Way by blending Western themes with the surreal action of '70s-era martial arts films and a 300-esque animated setting. Most Western fans will find this mixture to be a tad distasteful, especially since Lee emphasizes style over substance, leaving The Warrior's Way as more of a novelty film than a solid contribution to any of the genres it invokes.

The most striking aspect of the film, and the one that obviously attracted the most attention from Lee, is the overtly stylized setting. The exaggerated CGI visuals are stunning at times, though almost always too cartoonish to root the story or the place in any sense of reality. The garish costumes donned by the carnies are also a little beyond believable by Old West standards. Together, these outlandish elements kept the story from absorbing my attention and did more to distract than attract, which is unfortunate because the story is actually quite intriguing had it been explored and executed more deftly.

Yang's flight from his own clan and his life as a killer combined with the impending resurgence of Lynne's haunted past (dominated by The Colonel, a ruthless pedophile played by Danny Huston), together form a perfect storm of plot twists and possibilities. An effort was made to explore Yang's relationship with Lynne, the former a brooding introvert and the latter a fiery tomboy, but the attempt came off as half-hearted and more focused on sword sparring than character development. Equally frustrating were the many, many plot holes pertaining to the the town, its history, and its inhabitants that were left unaddressed by the storyline. The character of Ronald (Geoffrey Rush), the town drunk who just happens to have been some sort of badass gunslinger, begs for further development but, sadly, is relegated to something of an afterthought.

The party has been duly crashed

I was pleased, for the most part, by the performances turned in by the majority of the cast members, though I think Lee was intentionally trying to get some over-the-top acting to compliment his stylistic trend. Bosworth really pushed the hayseed accent and pouty attitude, while Huston practically defined creepy with his portrayal of a sadistic, scarred outlaw leader. The cast members playing the carnies were also quite flamboyant in their roles, but taken together with Lee's imagery it all seemed to mesh well.

The final aspect of The Warrior's Way that I wish to touch on is the quality and style of the action sequences, of which there were many during latter half of the film. Gravity-defying ninja antics were the norm, with Yang slicing through adversaries with lightning speed and seemingly little effort. Thankfully such acrobatics were reserved for Yang and his clan, the remaining townsfolk and the outlaw soldiery sticking to rather mundane lead slinging. Decapitations and the rending of limbs by the score just added to the overall outrageousness of the movie and added little substance to the story.

Ummm...yeah

Western fans won't like The Warrior's Way, and fans of pure action films might not find much to enjoy either. The gamers and anime crowds, however, seem to be the target audience here.