![]() Some reviewers, including this one, think it is one of the best of its kind ever done.) FK has humble beginnings, features two of the greatest cinematic martial artists of all time – Jackie Chan and Jet Li - a killer script, great scenery, and solid performances. (Word to the wise, if you have not already seen FK, and you like MMA and/or Wushu and/or Fantasy and/or Adventure, check it out. The word on the street was that this was a riff on one of my all-time favorite films, Forbidden Kingdom 2008, so I could not resist checking it out. Rated PG-13 for martial arts fantasy violence TWG may appeal to younger viewers but will result in a sugar overdose/ bubblegum lobotomy in anyone over thirty and at 108 minutes, it goes on for far too long.PG-13 | 1h 48min | Action, Adventure, Fantasy | 18 November 2016 (China)Ī teenager is magically transported to China and learns to convert his video game skills into those of a Kung Fu warrior. Other brash facets include a fetid visual palette and soon-to-be kitsch soundtrack which contributes enough energy for the story to soar with synthetic vigour but it’s an indisputably featherweight slap of mechanised dross. Jack is bullied yet quixotically cool, too much so to be a put-upon nerd and you can tell how his story will end as soon as he is introduced. The special effects are atrocious and cardboard cut-out characters have humdrum/ template arcs. But, despite its gauche, maudlin elements, The Warrior’s Gate is, for the most part, enjoyable.īautista is delectably dry, doing the dim lug thing we love him for so well, but too many defects make Hoene’s film resound as thumping but throwaway fluff. Manga, Xena and Miike’s The Great Yokai War tints meld well with sword and sorcery facets to form a frequently fun and spicy b-movie only one that’s corrupted by stock mawkishness. Time Bandits springs to mind during a scene when Jack is visited by a time travelling warrior who emerges from the casket at night like the dwarves in Gilliam’s classic. A bike chase echoes ET and BMX Bandits while training sequences evoke those in The Karate Kid. Bouncy set-pieces involving soup-stirring mountain spirits and CG nymph lizards cushion brilliantly choreographed battle scenes and violent yet bloodless martial arts. With the help of a soldier ally, Zhoo (Mark Chao) and a time-travelling wizard (Francis Ng), Jack steps through the portal in the hope of rescuing Ni Ni from being married against her will to the tyrannical barbarian king Arun (David Bautista).įist bumps, break-dances, beat-boxing and slang are spat out incessantly but may alienate older viewers TWG is trying to win with its 80s movie references. ![]() ![]() Jack befriends and westernises Ni Ni into a mall-loitering moron, before she is suddenly abducted and whisked back to her time. While working part time as a store clerk, Jack is asked by his manager to take care of an antique casket, out of which, one day, pops Princess Ni Ni (Su Lin), who is on the run from various sword wielding warriors. Teen gamer Jack Bronson (Uriah Shelton) lives with his financially struggling single mother Annie (Sienna Guillory) in a picturesque suburban neighbourhood. ![]() A hyperbolic energy installed by glossy visuals, tight choreography and a punchy plot propels it for the better part but its ill-governed start and finale combine with gaudy designs to form a noxious faux fantasy/ action cocktail which crushes its commendable facets. From Producer Luc Besson and co-writer Robert Mark Kamen (The Karate Kid (84), The Warrior’s Gate should be an adventure film for all ages but feels like watching an over-jaunty kid’s TV show with an apocalyptic hangover. In an attempt to employ 80s fantasy film traits for a modern teen audience, Cockneys Vs Zombies director Matthias Hoene’s follow-up scuffles like an embarrassing dad at a birthday party yet throws some slick twists into the mix.
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