ReWatch: The Warrior’s Way

• Written and Directed by Sngmoo Lee
• December 3, 2010

Sent to kill the last remaining member of a rival clan, an assassin takes pity on an infant survivor and flees to the American West only to be found again when he must save the town in which he lives.

The Warrior’s Way was not something I purchased. Rather it was a gift to me and I can’t say I would have initially picked it up. Yet now that I have watched it several times, I realize how shortsighted I would have been. This is perhaps one of my favorite films. It’s a bonkers combination of martial arts, action, and Old West with just the right amount of modern sensibilities.

The main setting of Lode is desolate and hopeless looking. It is a barren town of buildings that are barely more than frames filled with more sand than anything else. It is just this side of a grave where those living in it have all but given up. It really sets the tone for the film.

Visually the film benefits from being highly stylized in presentation and being filmed entirely on sets which allows a great deal of freedom in how things are done. But it’s not style over substance. We have well done characters with a decent level of complexity. While this is a newer Western these are not irredeemably terrible people, but rather just wounded individuals looking to reclaim what was lost or heal their wounds whether they realize it or not.

We have multiple elements mixing together in this story. We have local Lynne (Kate Bosworth) and town drunk Ron (Geoffrey Rush) both having difficulties dealing with the tragedies of their past. Into the mix steps the mysterious Yang (Jang Dong-gun)-a man on the run with the infant last member of a rival ninja clan who is nothing more than an infant.

Yang is your typical lone better than the best character. Jang Dong-gun has great screen presence in this movie and is able to pull off silent and stoic with a heavy helping of intimidation. He communicates a good character with very little dialogue letting his actions do all the talking.

Danny Huston is absolutely fantastic here as The Colonel who is one of two villains in this film. Huston is a fantastic actor always at his best when he is pure evil like here. He’s just delicious to watching in the part. Seriously disturbed and menacing but not campy.

The other villain is Saddest Flute (Ti Lung)-though never called that-who is the head of the Sad Flute Clan. He is seeking to avenge Yang’s betrayal of leaving the clan as well not killing the child. He is cold and merciless. He’s tough without doing too much.

I am not sure if we needed two villains though. Many films these days do that but why not have one big villain? Neither villain has any connection to the other, Saddest Flute’s beef is with Yang and The Colonel’s beef is with a local woman Lynne who is more or less Yang’s love interest. The Colonel is the usual Western warlord type that is actually the one in charge of the small town and pillages it regularly. Saddest Flute is the mentor now turned enemy of the other guy-in this case Yang.

The presence of one brought the presence of the other but other than that there is no connection between the two. It is more coincidence than anything. I know there is a bit of mysticism in this movie with the unsheathing of the blade calling to Saddest Flute. It just did not work for me as well as it could have.

Despite that The Warrior’s Way is great and never lets up. They do enough to establish the characters to get you from start to finish. There’s no dead air with things sprinkled along the way that initially seem unimportant but become important later. The Ferris wheel for example seems just like a stupid little element that becomes a significant part of the finale. And the finale is bonkers. It’s bloody and bold and explosive and filled from start to finish with action. It is an all-out drag out fight between all sides.

The Warrior’s Way is certainly an unusual film but it’s a very good unusual film. It is a great story that will suck you in from start to finish with not only its action but its characters. Though little known, I highly recommend it!