Warlords, The

Aroview: Spectacular, if now commonplace amongst a legion of Chinese historical epics, this tale of feuding warlords relays its angst, betrayal, and gory battle sequences with Shakespearean fury.

Pausing regularly to serve up theatrics between its three box office stars (Jet Li the most familiar face in non-martial arts role), the film mostly eschews the hammy melodrama of its less-adept contemporaries, delivering big egos, power-trips and jealous bouts of rage with relative seriousness. The large-scale depictions of ancient warfare are nothing if not impressive, furnished by the usual CG flourishes and uplifting moments of battlefield glory.

more matches…