Cinema: The Warrior’s Way - Dazzling Journey

Malta Independent Thursday, 20 January 2011, 00:00 Last update: about 15 years ago

The world’s greatest swordsman abandons his warrior clan to start a new life in America in The Warrior’s Way, a fantasy action adventure from the producer of the Lord of the Rings, Barrie M. Osborne. With stunningly choreographed fight sequences and gravity-defying stunts, The Warriors Way is a visually dazzling journey into a mythical past which seamlessly marries the cinematic traditions of East and West. Kate Bosworth, Danny Huston, Academy Award winner Geoffrey Rush, and Jang Dong Gun star in this epic story of revenge and redemption.

After a lifetime of training in martial arts and swordsmanship, Yang (Jang Dong Gun) has eliminated all but one of his clan’s enemies—an infant whose smile instantly melts his heart. Unwilling to kill her and unable protect her from his own deadly tribe, Yang takes the baby girl and flees, planning to seek refuge with an old friend living in the American West.

He arrives in a once-thriving, now forgotten carnival town, where he encounters Lynne (Kate Bosworth) a fiery knife-thrower, whose playful charm warms his battle-numbed heart. Obsessed with revenge against The Colonel (Danny Huston), who killed her family, Lynne urges Yang to teach her the art of the sword. Ron (Geoffrey Rush), with a wisdom that belies his status as the town drunk, warns Yang to keep moving.

But when his new friends are threatened by the vicious Hell Riders, Yang is forced to unsheathe his sword, knowing that the ring of its blade will reveal his location. The ensuing battle rises to an epic crescendo with the arrival of Yang’s terrifying foes from the East.

Classification 16

Burke And Hare: Hefty price

Burke & Hare is a comedic take on the true story of the 1828 Edinburgh body-snatchers William Burke (Simon Pegg) and William Hare (Andy Serkis).

These two Irish entrepreneurs, spurred on by a chance meeting with a gorgeous actress (Isla Fisher), discover that a dead body can fetch a hefty price when the demands of the leading medical professors Dr Knox (Tom Wilkinson) and Dr Monroe (Tim Curry) reach beyond that of the local supply.

Classification 14

Generic ‘Green Hornet’ has no sting

Someday, hopefully someday soon, 3-D will be exposed for the sham that it is.

All of us will realise that, for the vast majority of films, shooting in or converting to 3-D offers absolutely nothing from a narrative standpoint, and very little visually; that all this gimmick really adds is money at the box office through higher ticket prices. When that finally happens, perhaps, the sanctity of the art form might be restored.

This is probably just wishful thinking, of course. But until that blessed day comes, we will continue to be bombarded with mediocre action pictures like The Green Hornet.

It did not have to be this way. There was reason for hope.

The Green Hornet comes from director Michel Gondry, who is known for telling imaginative stories with inspired visuals. Gondry’s previous films include Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and The Science of Sleep, and, like so many feature filmmakers these days, he made his name with striking music videos. (His work with The White Stripes alone is legendary.)

Hearing his name attached to a big, studio superhero movie, starring Seth Rogen, of all people, may have sounded incongruent, but at least it was intriguing, and it held the promise of ingenuity and artistry. We might have been in for something fresh and daring. Instead, Gondry has come up with a surprisingly generic, bombastic action movie. Except for a few sequences that carry a bit of his flair, this could have been made by anyone.

That the script came from Rogen and Evan Goldberg — who also co-wrote the raunchy-but-sweet Superbad, inspired by their longtime friendship — also suggested a different kind of superhero. And indeed, the first half seems as if it were intended to play like a Judd Apatow-style bromance, only with elaborate gadgetry. But as the film wears on, it devolves into a numbing onslaught of automatic weapon fire, shattered glass and explosions. Just as it should be reaching an engrossing climax, it grows more repellent.

Based on the 1930s radio show, The Green Hornet stars Rogen as Britt Reid, playboy heir to the Los Angeles publishing empire built by his father (Tom Wilkinson, relegated to a one-note role in just a couple of scenes). But when his father dies suddenly, Britt realises he has a chance to use his fortune for good, and makes the impetuous decision to become a vigilante crime fighter by night. With the help of his father’s mechanic, the soft-spoken but ever-resourceful Kato (Taiwanese pop star Jay Chou), Britt devises a persona, costumes, a whole secret, adventurous life.

Truthfully, Kato comes up with all this stuff, although Britt repeatedly claims he is the star of the operation and dismisses Kato as merely the sidekick. The dynamic between the two should be giddily infectious, or at least endearing; we should be itching to go along for the ride in one of their many tricked-out cars. Instead, a slimmed-down Rogen is just playing a version of the good-natured, wisecracking slacker he plays in everything, which never feels like a comfortable fit alongside the coolly efficient Chou. Having an actor with some depth and range, like, say, Robert Downey Jr. in the Iron Man movies — can elevate this kind of playful material. Rogen simply does not have it, which further highlights the flimsiness of the script.

Cameron Diaz once again plays a seemingly ditzy blonde who turns out to have a brain as Britt’s secretary, Lenore Case. And Christoph Waltz, an Oscar winner for his chilling supporting performance in Inglourious Basterds, has a few amusing moments as a villain suffering through a mid-life crisis; he actually gets to take part in the film’s best scene, which occurs right at the top and features a cameo from an old Rogen friend. But the majority of the bumbling goings-on here seem beneath him.

As for those 3-D effects, which were shot in 2-D and then converted? All the usual stuff: glass shards and bullet casings and flames flying at the screen, but nothing that ever pierces the heart or mind.

Classification PG

Paranormal Activity 2

After experiencing what they think are a series of “break-ins”, a family sets up security cameras around their home, only to realize that the events unfolding before them are more sinister than they seem.

Classification 14

Films are relseased by KRS