So I’ve been getting back into the Dynasty Warriors games recently. I’ve been playing them on and off since I was a kid, but over the last couple weeks, whenever I find any scrap of spare time in-between getting these reviews written up, I’ve been delving back in the world of Chinese military politics and fundamentally ridiculous weaponry. I love the hell out of these games (even if the more recent entries haven’t done much for me), and while the average for video game adaptations is still in the red despite recent efforts, I was quite looking forward to this film in particular. And sure enough, it delivers on all the bombast and astonishingly hammy fun that makes the franchise what it is.
Now, I’m not going into this with even the slightest care for historical accuracy. This is a film based on a video game series, based on a novel, based on ancient Chinese history, with said novel literally called Romance Of The Three Kingdoms. But with that in mind, it being able to stick to the franchise’s identity is vital here, else it just makes head tilt at why they didn’t just adapt the book or go the John Woo route and adhere more to the historical side of things. Well, in that vein, this holds onto a surprising amount of the game’s unique markers. The outlandish and personalised weaponry (which are built up in-story as being powered by how much blood they shed, in one of the more surprising attempts to bring a XP system into a film), the individual characters, even the choices for battles are very telling. It opens with the Yellow Turban Rebellion, same as just about every game in the series, and the main plot revolves around the battle of Hu Lao Gate, another iconic level.
Said level is iconic for one specific reason, and I am so thankful that said reason is also here: Lu Bu (played by Louis Koo). Him being the single hardest boss fight in every single DW game (and usually showing up in the second level or earlier) is a series tradition, and as portrayed by Koo, he really gives the impression that he is someone who could lay waste to 10,000 soldiers all by himself. But then again, the others can claim similar, between Wang Kai as the conniving lord of chaos Cao Cao, Tony Yang, Han Geng, and Justin Cheung as oath brothers Liu Bei, Guan Yu, and Zhang Fei respectively, and even Philip Keung’s early appearance as the sorcerer Zhang Jiao. Whether it’s battle strategy, pledging allegiance to one another, or just good old-fashioned dick measuring (Kai and Yang in particular have some great rivalry chemistry here), everyone fits with the feel of the film they’re in.
As for the fight scenes, it sticks to the series’ army vs. army of one approach, with all manner of physics-breaking wuxia nonsense taking place that sheds blood and drastically changes the land they’re fighting on in good measure. And as backed by Yusuke Hatano’s soundtrack, which combines traditional Chinese instrumentation, an orchestra, and Fury-Road-sized guitars, it’s quite enjoyable in its wilful silliness. It’s a little disappointing that Sun Jian and the rest of Wu end up sidelined so that Cao Cao and Liu Bei can get the lion’s share of screen-time, but with how strong the highlighted characters are makes up for that. Guan Yu in particular is pretty badass, which makes sense considering he was deified after his death as a God of War.
But that’s just from my perspective as a fan of the source material going into it; what about everyone else? Well, while it occasionally assumes that the audience is already familiar with some of the plot beats, like the subplot between Lu Bu and Diao Chan, it mainly works as simple action spectacle. The story tying things together is only mildly intriguing, though, as none of the more dramatic moments like Cao Cao’s initial assassination attempt against tyrannical sex pest Dong Zhuo (Lam Suet), or when Liu Bei and his brothers meet the Master of the Sword Forge Castle (Carina Lau), measure up as well. It approaches political intrigue in the same way that the games approach military strategy: With the lightest of touches so as not to distract from the real draw.
However, my biggest issue with this film is something that has become a recurring problem with a lot of movies over the last several years, even ones that I really like: Its ending. Or, rather, its complete lack of a satisfying one. It not only sets up a sequel that will hopefully deliver the conclusion this film should have had, but it also takes a strange jump to a few years after the events of the sequel (presumably, at least) just to show one more conversation between Cao Cao and Liu Bei. I get that not every film can be John Woo’s Red Cliff (all five hours of it), but resorting to more ‘filmed for the box set’ tactics is still quite annoying, and honestly sapped a fair bit of the entertainment value out of it looking back on it.
But that shouldn’t ultimately matter. It’s a disposable film based on a (and I say this as a fan) disposable video game series that exists solely to entertain in the moment. And as a fan, I was sufficiently entertained by this film, and I give it props for managing to translate as much as it did from those games (right down to the super-flashy Musou moves). But putting the film critic hat back on, this is still pretty slight, and while its availability on streaming services helps with it, it’s nothing all that special.
No comments:
Post a Comment