LFF review: The Warlords

The Warlords is a brutal Shakespearean tragedy set in late 19th century China during the Taiping rebellion. While it never quite scales the heights it is striving for, it does so with class.

The powerhouse Far Eastern cast, Jet Li, Andy Lau and Takeshi Kaneshiro (the Hollywood equivalent would be Tom Cruise, George Clooney and Leonardo di Caprio), play three sworn brothers: the first a failed army general and the other two bandits. Circumstances bring all three together, running their own army against the rebels to gain favour with Li’s former masters.

Remarkable battlefield success after success sees Li moving up the greasy pole – but at what cost to the blood bond with Lau and Kaneshiro (appropriately wild-eyed and passionate as the youngest of the three). Ultimately, absolute power must corrupt absolutely and so it does with tragic consequences.

While the battles are impressively and viciously staged, the emotional journeys and political intrigues are less well-handled – look past the epic sweep, the costumes and the gravitas the cast lend to the script and there’s not that much there.

The film swept the board at the Hong Kong Film Awards, taking eight gongs including Best Film, Director (Peter Chan), Actor (Li) and Cinematography, and was a huge hit throughout the Far East. However, I can’t help but wonder if it might have been better served with Tony Leung in Li’s role. Li is by no means out of his depth, effectively portraying his character’s deep need to prove himself to his superiors, but there’s not enough of the character’s heart for us to fully understand his relationship with Lau’s wife upon which some of the tragedy is founded – this may have of course be a failing in the script or the editing.

But I can set all this aside because the battle scenes are magnificent, all death and glory. Indeed the sheer weight of the blood bond between the three is similar to that of the Fellowship of the Ring – if one of the three leads urged you into battle, you’d surely follow.
Score: 7.5