The Warrior's Way (2010)

Featured Audience Ratings

• Stuart B

  
  Well made, great visuals and action scenes but all in all an average movie, let down by it's less than great direction.

• Justin Y

  
  <i>The Warrior's Way</i> is a starting point for director Sngmoo Lee, which does contain some firm pieces, along with others that are not-so-solid.<p>Part Asian martial arts and part western are what elements this film chooses to blend for its story. To some… More
  <i>The Warrior's Way</i> is a starting point for director Sngmoo Lee, which does contain some firm pieces, along with others that are not-so-solid.<p>Part Asian martial arts and part western are what elements this film chooses to blend for its story. To some extent, it does work. Partially because of its single circus western setting and partially because swordplay and guns make for a good time.</p><p>The plot is simple with some decent enough characters to go around. There is a large amount of CG, especially when it comes to the backdrops, and to be honest there is room for improvement. The swordplay is highly stylized with maybe a bit much in the way of slow motion and kills that are rather quick.</p><p>Dong-gun Jang is emotionless, which matches the persona of a silent assassin, but it does lower the liveliness of the picture. On the other hand, Kate Bosworth does tend to pick that up. Danny Huston and Geoffrey Rush exhibit some good supporting performances.</p><p><i>The Warrior's Way</i> isn't the talk of the town. It's more of a film that just passes through.</p>

• Dean !

  
  Hmm Ninjas Vs Cowboys may as well be the title. Visually very impressive and stylized. Think Sky Captain, 300 meets Crouching Tiger for a slick look. Unfortunately despite a good cast it lacks any punch! The type of story done too many times before. Sadly the action scenes look pretty… More
  Hmm Ninjas Vs Cowboys may as well be the title. Visually very impressive and stylized. Think Sky Captain, 300 meets Crouching Tiger for a slick look. Unfortunately despite a good cast it lacks any punch! The type of story done too many times before. Sadly the action scenes look pretty but have very little action! A real missed opportunity with a better story and longer action scenes it could have been a cult hit.

• Cynthia S

  
  This was a pretty decent film....good special effects, and good action. A little bit Kung Fu Hustle-ish...just not quite so silly. I really enjoyed Geoffrey Rush's character. He was a hoot! All in all mildly enjoyable, and decently done.

• Dean M

  
  Debut director Sngmoo Lee takes a fistful of leaves out of Zach Snyder's book, painting a hyper-surreal CGI backdrop behind the lone, silent and deadly figure of Yang (South Korean superstar Dong-Gun Jang). An introductory sequence involving Yang deliberately dicing his ninja… More
  Debut director Sngmoo Lee takes a fistful of leaves out of Zach Snyder's book, painting a hyper-surreal CGI backdrop behind the lone, silent and deadly figure of Yang (South Korean superstar Dong-Gun Jang). An introductory sequence involving Yang deliberately dicing his ninja adversaries - pink mist spraying as if art directed - leads to a pivotal lifestyle change for our contemplative "hero". This stylised yet frustratingly hollow opening to <i>The Warrior's Way</i> also proves prophetic of how Lee shortchanges actual action by overcompensating with pretty visuals and slow-moving faffing. When Yang winds up in a clapped-out Wild West town, orchestrated fights are long delayed so a plain stranger-must-save-the-day story can tick over. As gleaned from the cast list, Lee attracted find talent to his genre collision. Sporadically wandering in as our sloshed narrator, Geoffrey Rush does the unthinkable: puts in a lousy turn which includes a dreadful accent and scant gravity. Danny Huston also just drops by to be nothing more than the token Bad Guy. His link to bitter cowgirl Lynne (Kate Bosworth, working harder than usual) becomes the piddling petrol in the tank of Yang's uneventful saunter to confronting his hidden past. Had Lee not kept Yang's previous occupation on the backburner for so long, <I>The Warrior's Way</i> might have brought the nutsy noise it suggested. Instead, when the chaps in chaps are finally challenged by an invasion of martial artists, you will be gagging for a spectacular rumble. Fleeting thrills arise from this conclusive showdown - directly inspired by any number of Western final acts - but the damage already has been done. Fast forwarding through to get to the limited action is a shrewd and, sadly, speedy option.

• Lewis C

  
  "You are assassin. All that you love, you will destroy." Interested in seeing Asian superstar Jang Dong-gun staring off mysteriously into the distance? Hearing Kate Bosworth speaking in a mystifying "western" accent? Watching Geoffrey Rush slumming it and Danny… More
  "You are assassin. All that you love, you will destroy." Interested in seeing Asian superstar Jang Dong-gun staring off mysteriously into the distance? Hearing Kate Bosworth speaking in a mystifying "western" accent? Watching Geoffrey Rush slumming it and Danny Huston playing his most comically over-the-top villain, ever? All in slow motion? If not, then The Warrior's Way offers little else. I'm guessing it was intended to be an east-meets-west blend of stylish action, but it ended up being just a bad movie. The action scenes are ho-hum (as well as almost non- existent until the very end and so special effects heavy that they almost could have been made with no actors whatsoever), the frequent attempts to add pathos to the story universally fail, and the whole effort just boils down to a dull mess. I was ready for The Warrior's Way to be over long before its 100 minutes were up. It doesn't even have enough camp value for me to recommend it to people who might be entertained by that kind of thing. Skip it.

• Everett J

  
  This is kind of a "cowboy vs. samurai" movie. Pretty campy effects and humor, but it works in this type of a movie. Never takes itself too serious, but because of that it drags some in the middle, and it runs too long at 100 minutes. Should have been probably 15-20… More
  This is kind of a "cowboy vs. samurai" movie. Pretty campy effects and humor, but it works in this type of a movie. Never takes itself too serious, but because of that it drags some in the middle, and it runs too long at 100 minutes. Should have been probably 15-20 minutes shorter and it would have been better. The characters and effects are over the type in a genre type of way. Yang(or the Warrior) is pretty much a homage to "Shogun Assassin". As a matter of fact there are a lot of nods to that movie. He conveys a bad ass with a sword very well. I think if the movie had made money, it would probably have been turned into a franchise. Oh, and how bad ass in Yang? His real life name is Dong Gun! How cool is that? I really dug the western vs Asian type of concept, but I think if it were directed/or wrote by someone else, it could have been much better. Worth a watch for me, but may be worth a purchase for some. I've seen better and I've seen a lot worse.

• Aaron N

  
  I don't have much to say about his movie that begs another 1000 words. It exists, has some action that ranges from meh to ok, and takes place in a western circus town. It also happens to star Geoffrey Rush, Kate Bosworth, Danny Huston, and Tony Cox...Ninjas, damn.

• Luke B

  
  An absolute wonderful mishmash of ideas and styles. It doesn't always work, but when it does it is exciting stuff. The film takes martial arts, stylized violence, westerns, and a kind of French Jeunet style. A swordsman disobeys his clan and runs off to the wild west. Not any… More
  An absolute wonderful mishmash of ideas and styles. It doesn't always work, but when it does it is exciting stuff. The film takes martial arts, stylized violence, westerns, and a kind of French Jeunet style. A swordsman disobeys his clan and runs off to the wild west. Not any wild west town though, this is "The Paris" of the west. A town trying to lure in tourists by setting up a circus. The film is mostly set-up, and gets bogged down at times by having two separate villains, a band of bandits and a band of ninjas. I liked the correlation between the romantic interests. One is a girl out to avenge her family, and the man she falls for is a man that killed a baby girl's entire family. It's the thin line between duty and honor that make this work. It also has a lot of fun towards the end, with awesome CGI, explosions, and clowns brandishing guns. A bit of silly fun for those that like ninjas, clowns, and cowboys.

• Manu G

  
  Great movie, absolutely tremendous japanese movie with a western style, who would have thought I would have enjoyed it as much, truly caught me off guard. Kate Bosworth now as a brunette to me looks even cuter than blonde. Loved the story! The only thing I would have liked and would… More
  Great movie, absolutely tremendous japanese movie with a western style, who would have thought I would have enjoyed it as much, truly caught me off guard. Kate Bosworth now as a brunette to me looks even cuter than blonde. Loved the story! The only thing I would have liked and would have made me rated a 4 stars movie would have been a longer fighting ending between the 2 swordsman, I think everyone saw the final fight coming throughout the movie progress but just wasn't that long and left me wanting much more, still great movie!!! The world's greatest swordsman abandons his warrior clan to start a new life in the American Badlands in THE WARRIOR'S WAY, a visually dazzling modern martial arts adventure with stunningly choreograp... read more read more...hed fight sequences and gravity-defying stunts. In an original, gorgeously realized journey into a mythical past, writer and director Sngmoo Lee seamlessly marries the cinematic traditions of East and West. Korean superstar Jang Dong Gun, Kate Bosworth, Danny Huston and Academy Award-winner Geoffrey Rush star in this epic story of revenge and redemption.

• EightThirty .

  
  03/02/2011 (ONLINE) Now this is the sort of flick I like! Yep this is the crap I get into and its been a while since I've seen an Asian super-natural fantasy looking flick that I use to indulge heavily in. Sword-play, gun-smoke and assassins? Awesome! It's so cool and… More
  03/02/2011 (ONLINE) Now this is the sort of flick I like! Yep this is the crap I get into and its been a while since I've seen an Asian super-natural fantasy looking flick that I use to indulge heavily in. Sword-play, gun-smoke and assassins? Awesome! It's so cool and boys will yarn about this for days like I did. No 'Oscar' here but hey, it's still gold to me. The old 'East meets West', blades vs bullets and 'Cowboys and Ninjas?'... hmm, still cool! Pretty out of it action, and the CGI? Honestly? Could be a bit better but all good, when I'm in 'little boy mode' its unbelievable, especially if I'm into it. At least for me it felt like a live anime so it was all good and I wished I could of seen this at the movies! I guess this is for the 'not so serious' crowd and those who can handle large amounts of fictitious juice poured on a dusty old script that was probably scrapped... are you keen? Well it was fun for me and what a nice little surprise of a flick this was cause I was not really keen to begin with but gave it a shot based on the trailer.

• danny d

  
  no question this is a silly film, and without the eccentricities it would have had even more potential, but this is still one of the most entertaining films of the year. a more traditional samurai background fused with a western still hasnt been done well in a long time, probably… More
  no question this is a silly film, and without the eccentricities it would have had even more potential, but this is still one of the most entertaining films of the year. a more traditional samurai background fused with a western still hasnt been done well in a long time, probably since shogun, but this wets the appetite for that style of film and has some solid fight sequences. this is the type of film many will criticize, but i love westerns and i love japanese martial arts films, and the fusion here kept me more than interested.

• Corey W

  
  "You have the heart of a priest! Your heart will become your biggest enemy! You must kill your greatest enemy. All that we love, we will destroy!" It's lines like these that "The Warrior's Way" fills itself with and honestly, the movie tries too hard… More
  "You have the heart of a priest! Your heart will become your biggest enemy! You must kill your greatest enemy. All that we love, we will destroy!" It's lines like these that "The Warrior's Way" fills itself with and honestly, the movie tries too hard to grapple the audience's heart but it really just doesn't cut it. The acting is laughable and the script is one of the worst from this year, and that's bad! This movie sets itself up kind of like a Spagheti-Western from the 60's. We get that corny cowbody music is almost every fight scene and it's difficult not to laugh at the movie. It tries to be serious and it's lame surroundings kills it...literally. Before you decide to go out and spend the cash on "The Warrior's Way"...be smart, put your wallet down, and go online and watch it. It's not worth the cash. Trust me. ======================================== STORYLINE: "The Warrior's Way" has one of the worst plots I've seen all of this year. I mean, it probably could've been done much better, but the movie is just so boring and when it finally picks itself up...it ends. The movie focuses on Yang, an assassin who leaves his clan and decides to hide out in a small town and become a new man.In this town, Yang is the new cleaning man. As the cleaning man he makes friends with Lynne and bonds with a baby-girl (Who he saved from his clan I might add). Being hunted, he awaits all he can before the biggest showdown of his life. I'm sure from that you can tell the movie's plot blows. There is hardly even any action in the movie and it doesn't deserve the R rating. In fact, I thought this was PG-13 the entire time until I went and looked this up on IMDB after I saw it. Anyways, the story isn't anything special. ========================================== ACTING: As I already mentioned, the acting in this film is something to laugh at. Kate Bosworth's terrible fake accent makes her Razzy-worthy and Geoffrey Rush is just like John Malcovich from "Johah Hex", a waste of talent. Don-gun Jang reminds me of Jackie Chan the entire time, which isn't such a good thing people. Tony Cox is a huge reason to give the acting a thumbs down as well. Why was he even in this? It only made the acting worse and the movie itself more cheesy. All and all, a huge thumbs down on all of the film's performances. ========================================= VISUALS/DIRECTING: I don't see what the big deal on the visual effects are. The look of the film is absolutley terrible. I mean, sometimes it looks as if its almost an anime cartoon, and I'm sure anime lovers will get a kick out of that, but, as a movie-buff I thought the visuals were horrible. Most of the kills are off-screen too and it makes me wonder how this even got the R-rating. There isn't even enough violence in it for that. As for the direction on the movie, Sngmoo Lee's shots look as if it was entirley filmed on a green-screen...and let me tell you, I hate green-screen's with all of my heart. Lee's directorial debut is something to see and forget about. He cooks up a corny-script and tries a little too hard to make the audience care and only makes things worse. Hopfully, if the guy ever makes another movie, he'll learn from his mistakes on "The Warrior's Way". ======================================== My Last Words: That just about sums everything up. I don't have much to say about this movie so I'll end it all here in this brief paragraph. Remember this folks, "The Warrior's Way" barley holds on to any action, and when it does, it's nothing to die for. The acting is terrible and, as I said, the script is quite bad. No good dialog. So please, do me a favor, miss out on this one. I wish I could have...

• Brian D

  
  Great comic book violents with a great visual treat which give this simple story a real kick. All this done with a tongue n cheek appoch.A great friday night out and anyone who loves martial art flicks.

• moon r

  
  mysterious man with no name arrives in filthy outlands hamlet to mind his own business but local bad guys force him to kill them in slow motion, ballet-style, like cockroachs. on top on this he has refused one assassination job in his own past and so must, for honor's sake, be… More
  mysterious man with no name arrives in filthy outlands hamlet to mind his own business but local bad guys force him to kill them in slow motion, ballet-style, like cockroachs. on top on this he has refused one assassination job in his own past and so must, for honor's sake, be killed himself (translation: even more slo-mo ballet style killings!). there's a woman - there's always a woman, isn't there - and a circus and a drunk, guess which one geoffrey rush plays. style over substance still can be fun.

• Steven V

  
  Take a dab of '300' uber-seriousness and theatricality, some slow motion Matrix moves and some dodgy out-of-place but strangely apt rock, music, sprinkle liberally with a bizarre voice-over in a Southern US accent and you have the opening sequence to The Warrior's Way,… More
  Take a dab of '300' uber-seriousness and theatricality, some slow motion Matrix moves and some dodgy out-of-place but strangely apt rock, music, sprinkle liberally with a bizarre voice-over in a Southern US accent and you have the opening sequence to The Warrior's Way, as truly odd a mainstream film as you'll see. The fight scenes in The Warrior's Way that top n tail the film are pretty good, even if they are 90% CGI assisted. The Warrior's Way sports a distinct look that again brings to mind '300', the backdrop seems to alternate between light and dark colours depending on the prevailing tone, but it is never too distracting or cartoonish. With all the chop-socky, scenery chewing acting and at times inane dialogue going on I had to occasionally pinch myself to remind me that esteemed actor Geoffrey Rush played a drunk carnie worker. He obviously knows that this isn't necessarily high art but puts on a good show nonetheless. The Warrior's Way is stylish and pretty entertaining even if it is hardly vital cinema.

• Ryan M

  
  3.5/10 "The Warrior's Way" is a silly, cheap, dumb CGI laden actioner that tries to mix the genres of Western and Samurai variety; as a few before it have. As much as I love drunk cowboys and keen badass Asians fighting alongside each-other from… More
  3.5/10 "The Warrior's Way" is a silly, cheap, dumb CGI laden actioner that tries to mix the genres of Western and Samurai variety; as a few before it have. As much as I love drunk cowboys and keen badass Asians fighting alongside each-other from time-to-time, you still need to work around the clichés and create a unique, fun ride if you want to impress this movie-goer; or anyone else who's genuinely intelligent, for the matter. This film was made without wit, and it exists, yes, for an audience that could be called "stupid". It's an annoying, bloody mess of violence and special effects. There comes a time when enough is enough. The film goes (pretty much) all the way when it comes to just being dull, tedious boring, and worst of all, not a whole lot of fun. I expect samurai-western hybrids to be a lot of dumb fun; but this is just nigh horrendous. No doubt, I've seen worse films, but come on; this isn't the slightest bit impressive. I mean, since when are almost completely CGI action sequences impressive? You know what's impressive (as far as samurai movies go)? Takashi Miike's masterful "13 Assassins". Now there's a samurai action epic to see. It made use of deceptive effects; mostly traditional. Hence, the kind that you don't notice are special effects unless you look real close. This film instead makes use of green-screen and a poor man's idea of "surrealism". Those who call it surreal have obviously never seen a film with such qualities. As we all know; you have to be a true talent to capture the dream. This review is going to be a bit of a rant, I must admit. This isn't one of the worst films I saw from 2010, but it's far from acceptable or decent. There's plenty about it that should make you want to avoid it, even though samurai-film enthusiasts may be a bit more understanding and sympathetic than I am. I'm not new to this action sub-genre and I appreciate it greatly; but I don't appreciate when a filmmaker attempts to tackle such material and fails miserably. So onwards with the story (chuckles). The film begins with a fierce warrior (Jang Dong Gun), who belongs to the Sad Flutes clan of samurai, killing of the last of an enemy clan. He discovers that the last of the lot he must kill is a baby; although he refuses to do so and takes the youngster under his wing. And eventually, the kid moves from under the wing to hanging by a stick. Oh, goody. Basically, what I'm saying with that is: the warrior travels with the child, teaches him; loves him. However, the quiet warrior soon finds new love when he stumbles upon an old Western town. It is there he meets a whole new cast of curious characters: a town drunk (Geoffrey Rush) and a beautiful woman named Lynn (Kate Bosworth), to name a few. There's also a carnival crew headed by a midget who calls himself Eight-Ball (Tony Cox). We learn that the now desolate, quiet, ignored town was once a source of great attraction for those seeking entertainment in the form of, well, a carnival. However, getting the carnival back up and running is the least of problems for the characters; villains are hiding in the darkness, waiting to strike. Certain characters appear to have pasts with one antagonist in particular (Danny Huston). But let's not get into that too much. As a reviewer, I can't spoil too much for you since you might want to see the film regardless of what I thought. Personally, I think it's underwritten and pathetic; with big action set pieces taking the spotlight over characters or plot. The dialogue is stupid and uninspired; and the actors don't seem very dedicated to their roles. The film has a few entertaining action scenes, but as I said, close to all of them are creations of CGI; so calling them well-made would be a sin. Perhaps you could say they are...well animated? I'm all for our movies looking slick, new, and overall nice; but when there's no sign of substance, you're in trouble; oh yes you are. "The Warrior's Way" can be described with many words, but I can think of a good one to end this review with: lame.

• Fascade F

  
  Despite the weird mix of ancient dismembering body parts type martial arts and western atmosphere, this revenge fueled story keep you interested until the very end where when you think it is over..it is not. Beautifully photographed and well paced. An assassin who is hired to wipe out… More
  Despite the weird mix of ancient dismembering body parts type martial arts and western atmosphere, this revenge fueled story keep you interested until the very end where when you think it is over..it is not. Beautifully photographed and well paced. An assassin who is hired to wipe out a rival Asian Gang is faced with sparing the life of an infant...who is the blood relative of the enemy. Against the orders of his boss, he flees the country in search of a new life...promising himself to never again execute any further victims. Along comes a young woman who takes an interest in him and the infant...shows him a trade...as well as a way on how to have the will to encourage life from dead endings..he in turn shows her how to defend herself from a hideous past where revenge is the key to her emotional freedom....A very good story line where you wonder eventually will their past haunt them, destroy them of seal their fates forever? Very good choreography to hold you to the very end...whenever it arrives. Please see this martial arts enthusiasts!

• Jeffrey M

  
  While visually it looks good, the action scenes are mostly bland (save one awesome sequence), with nothing to make you care about the characters. The film is very uneven, often trying and failing miserably to be funny. It's not compelling on any level. I tend to dislike surreal,… More
  While visually it looks good, the action scenes are mostly bland (save one awesome sequence), with nothing to make you care about the characters. The film is very uneven, often trying and failing miserably to be funny. It's not compelling on any level. I tend to dislike surreal, stylized action, unless it's executed well with intensity and a sense of stakes, like Zack Snyder's 300. That is not the case with this film, making the film seem tedious and almost cartoonish.

• Jeff B

  
  Some of Akira Kurosawa's greatest films have been fantastically remade as westerns (Seven Samurai as The Magnificent Seven and Yojimbo as A Fistful of Dollars). Looking to cut out the middle man, writer/director Sngmoo Lee just went and set his debut chop-socky flick in the wild… More
  Some of Akira Kurosawa's greatest films have been fantastically remade as westerns (Seven Samurai as The Magnificent Seven and Yojimbo as A Fistful of Dollars). Looking to cut out the middle man, writer/director Sngmoo Lee just went and set his debut chop-socky flick in the wild and wacky west. Think: Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon meets Last Man Standing (also a remake of Kurosawa's Yojimbo) meets Chuck Jones. Working from an overactive imagination, Lee gives audiences an overactive story with overactive action and an overactive cast of characters. If moviegoers can suspend reality long enough to sit through this live action anime, a fun - if frenetic - time is to be had by all. This R-rated martial arts comic-actioner begins in Japan, but quickly relocates to a western town that looks like a post-Apocalyptic Coney Island, half-finished Ferris wheel and all. The hero, a warrior-assassin (Dong-gun Jang) who refuses to kill the last infant of a warring clan, suddenly finds himself hiding in a small, forgotten, desert town in the American badlands. And from there, things get even more surreal! World cinema hasn't seen this much Physics-bending airborne martial arts since Hong Kong Air starting showing Jackie Chan movies on their flights. At times, between the scenery-chewing carnies, East-meets-West romance, and a body count that accumulates at ludicrous speed, this flick's nothing short of dizzying. Regardless, this overcooked Spaghetti - uh, Noodle - western never takes itself seriously. Because of this, Warrior's Way's 110 minute running time is certainly never boring. Bottom line: Way of the fun.

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