The spaghetti Western rides again—with a chop suey variation—in The Warrior's Way, which begins in Korea, where cold-blooded assassin Yang (Dong-gun Jang) proves he's a softie at heart by not killing a baby girl after slaughtering her parents, who were part of a rival clan. Scooping the infant up in his arms, Yang flees from the Far East to the Old West, winding up in Lode, a dilapidated desert outpost, where he's befriended by Lynne (Kate Bosworth), an outgoing flirt with a tortured past. Lynne introduces Yang to eccentric circus/carnival folk, led by pint-sized ringmaster Eight-Ball (Tony Cox), who hopes that the construction of a Ferris wheel will revive the frontier town. Yang reopens a Chinese laundry, grows flowers, and teaches knife-throwing to Lynne, while also engaging in skirmishes with town drunk Ron (Geoffrey Rush), and the savagely perverted, facially disfigured Colonel (Danny Huston), who murdered Lynne's family years earlier and periodically returns to terrorize the town. Additional problems arise when Yang's former mentor (Lung Ti) suddenly appears—along with a battalion of black-clad killers who swoop ninja-style over the rooftops like a flock of demented crows—to wreak slice-and-dice vengeance against Yang for having abandoned their squad. Director Sngmoo Lee revels in the martial arts CGI in this highly stylized, visually surreal kung fu fantasy that is also, unfortunately, overwrought and cliché-filled. Optional. [Note: DVD/Blu-ray extras include deleted scenes (12 min.) and a behind-the-scenes featurette (3 min.). Exclusive to the Blu-ray release is a bonus digital copy of the film. Bottom line: a decent extras package for an uneven film.] (S. Granger)
The Warrior's Way
Fox, 100 min., R, DVD: $29.98, Blu-ray: $39.99, June 28 Volume 26, Issue 3
The Warrior's Way
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