Score: 7/10
The time is in the middle of the 19th century. China is wrecked with wars between various warlords. The government is corrupt and everyone is looking for more power. The people have suffered terribly and there are 50 million casualties during these wars. In a battle between the Qing army led by General Ma Xinyi (Jet Li) and the rebel, General Ma suffers major defeat and he loses all his men.
Ma manages to escape death and reaches a small village before he is unconscious. Lian (Xu Jinglei) finds and brings him to a deserted house. She cooks him some porridge and consoles him over his grief of losing all his men. Somehow they end up loving each other.
In the village, Ma meets with bandits led by Cao Erhu (Andy Lau) and his confidant Zhang Wenxiang (Takeshi Kaneshiro). Ma joins with Cao and during a battle, Ma saves Cao’s life. Afterwards Ma, Cao, and Zhang decide to become blood brothers. In the bandit camp, Ma finds out that Lian is actually Cao’s wife.
Ma has a dream to destroy rebels and the corrupt government. The tree brothers decide to join Qing army and they involve in many battles. In spite of their smaller forces, they manage to win every battle and Ma as the oldest brother receives the highest glory. Ma is hungry for more and soon the brotherhood is at strain because each has different principles. The love between Ma and Lian makes the situation even worse.
The movie offers tons of contents. The battle scenes are decent, but the strong point of the movie is the emotional aspect. The loyalty and conflicts between the three brothers are the main concept behind the movie. Ma is the ambitious one, Cao the one who holds the principles, while Zhang’s trait is his loyalty to the brotherhood. Li, Lau, and Kaneshiro perform well. We can see how each is struggling to do the right things even if those things break their heart.
For further information on the Warlords, you can go to:
- IMDB: The Warlords
- Official Site of The Warlords
"Yadda yadda yadda (what is for lunch?) bla bla bla"
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment