Chicago – In the opening moments of Peter Ho-Sun Chan’s “The Warlords,” martial arts superstar Jet Li performs one of his bravest physical feats yet. He breaks into tears. This comes as a bit of a shock, considering Li’s status as one of China’s most formidable onscreen ass-kickers. Yet it’s in keeping with Chan’s uncommonly emotional approach to depicting historical events often drained of humanity.
“Warlords” debuted in China one year before the release of John Woo’s overblown epic “Red Cliff.” Both films purport themselves to be antiwar pictures, yet in the case of Woo’s epic, the expensive spectacle is romanticized to such a degree that it fails to impact the audience on a visceral level. When arrows are shot through the sky, Woo follows the arrows from their point of view, evoking the tone of a video game rather than actual warfare. There...
“Warlords” debuted in China one year before the release of John Woo’s overblown epic “Red Cliff.” Both films purport themselves to be antiwar pictures, yet in the case of Woo’s epic, the expensive spectacle is romanticized to such a degree that it fails to impact the audience on a visceral level. When arrows are shot through the sky, Woo follows the arrows from their point of view, evoking the tone of a video game rather than actual warfare. There...
- 7/5/2010
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
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