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Kate Bosworth, Dong-Gun Jang, and Danny Huston star in “The Warrior's Way.” This R-rated, violent freak flick is not for kids, and probably not your mother.
If I hadn't already known that this was written and directed by Sngmoo Lee before seeing it, I would have guessed a creation by Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez. It's certainly raw enough to pitch a tent in that camp.
The story, I think, has way too many moving parts, but the film is so unique you can almost blow the story off. It's kind of like a train wreck -- I couldn't turn away from it.
The whole thing reminds me very much of “High Plains Drifter” with Clint Eastwood. Set in an old western ghost town with a closed-down carnival, with ferris wheel and carousel. Throw in some clowns and circus freaks, including a drunk and a midget and you've got a budding community. But the town gets some unexpected visitors, like ninjas and a sadistic union army colonel from the Civil War and his gang.
The great equalizer, or this film's Clint Eastwood, is the silent but quick and deadly Yang, played by Dong-Gun Jang. Yang meets up with a girl played by Kate Bosworth who takes a shine to the newcomer.
She's intent on getting good with a blade because she wants to avenge her family's death at the hands of that union soldier should they ever cross paths again, and they do.
Yang also has to stay sharp because he is on the run from his own clan. He was supposed to kill every last one of the enemy, and he did, except for one -- Baby April, who was the best character throughout the whole show.
When I saw the previews to this, I thought that it looked kind of stupid but I might like it anyway. It was, and I did.
I left the theater wondering what I just saw. Actually, a lot of everything. It's got some choreographically slick martial arts and dynamite effects, literally. It has humor, some really over-the-top, which I love. It goes from silly, to serious, to sad, then back again. The graphic violence does cross my personal line in places.
Most reviews on this are not good, it's absolutely not for kids, and see at your own risk.
Combining the old American West with some Asian culture is certainly eye-opening.