The Warrior's Way

For all of it's over the top, bloody violence (the film definitely earns it's R-rating), there is a certain child-like innocence behind The Warrior's Way. It's visuals and storyline seem to be inspired by Japanese manga, anime, and video games. And the battles, despite the stylized violence, have all the sincerity and seriousness of a child flinging his action figures around. That the movie doesn't let itself take itself seriously for a second is a nice change of pace from some of the recent, deadly-serious martial arts epics we've seen. That the movie actually works in a goofy way is an even nicer surprise.

The film's opening moments will be familiar to anyone who has read the classic comic book, Lone Wolf and Cub. A stone-faced samurai (Dong-gun Jang) has been on a single-minded mission to wipe out a rival clan in order to become the world's greatest swordsman. He succeeds in killing all of the rival clan's warriors, but in order to wipe them out completely and fulfill his mission, he must kill the sole surviving member - a baby girl. The samurai finds he cannot end the child's life, and instead straps it to his back, making the long voyage to America, in the hopes that he can escape his former allies, who now seem him as a traitor for not finishing his mission. The samurai heads for a dead-end town in the dusty old west desert, hoping to start a new life away from violence.

The town that he arrives in has seen better days. There's a funny sight gag when the samurai first arrives in town, he heads right for the local hotel, opens the door, only to find that the entire building itself is long gone, with only the front of the building still standing. The town's residents seem to be made up almost entirely out of circus performers and freaks. They have grand plans to rebuild the town into an entertainment park for kids the nation over. The head of the town, a midget ringmaster who calls himself Eight Ball (Tony Cox), welcomes the warrior, and helps him set up a shop as the town launderer, while also working on a flower garden out back. During his time in town, he also befriends the town drunk (Geoffrey Rush, at his surly best), and a spirited young woman named Lynne (Kate Bosworth), who is interested in the samurai, and wants to learn how to fight with knives and blades, for reasons we learn through flashbacks.

Writer-director Sngmoo Lee has created a beautifully realized world for his offbeat characters to inhabit. The old west town that the warrior eventually calls home looks like it's borrowed from various images of dried up old west towns in other movies, but also has a spark of imagination, due to the carnival-like aspects of the town, such as the massive carousel and ferris wheel that are in the center. It's also amusing to see clowns and bearded ladies roaming the dusty streets of the town. You get the sense that the place would be a wonderland for children, if it weren't for the fact that the town is plagued with problems. Chief amongst them is a deranged Colonel (Danny Huston) and his band who frequently terrorize the villagers and rape the women. The problems only grow when the samurai's former allies track him down, and the villagers find themselves under siege by ninjas.

So, you have a movie where circus performers, blood-lusting cowboys, and silent ninja assassins are all battling each other in this dusty little carnival town. Only a child could dream up something like this, or someone who remembers what it's like to be one. That's what drew me in. The movie is goofy, yes, but it does not rub it in our faces or draws attention to itself. The warrior does not do a double take when the bearded lady walks into his store, wanting his clothes cleaned. This is normal to him, and we don't question it. There's such an innocence to the film's goofiness, we accept it easily. Even when the film turns violence, the action is so stylized and done in the way of a live action comic book, I couldn't help but be a little bit delighted by it all.

The Warrior's Way is not a great movie, and never pretends to be. It's well made, it's silly, and it's fun while it lasts, even if it kind of exits your brain as soon as you walk out of the theater. Still, I had fun while I was watching it, so I'm recommending it. There's a lot of charm to be found here. You get the sense that writer-director Lee had a pretty vivid imagination as a child. Good to see it hasn't gone away.

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