Chinese: 投名狀
Year: 2007
Director: Peter Chan Ho-Sun
Action: Ching Siu-Tung
Cast: Jet Li, Andy Lau Tak-Wah, Takeshi Kaneshiro, Xu Jinglei
The Warlords is set during the Taiping Rebellion when the Qing Dynasty was brought to its knees by a militant demagogue who attracted hundreds of thousands of disgruntled insurgents to his cause, thrusting the nation into chaotic infighting and warlordism. Emerging from a field of corpses, Qing General Pang (Jet Li) is the only member of his troop to survive a fatal battle with enemy forces. Wandering through the impoverished land, he encounters young outlaw Jiang (Takeshi Kaneshiro) and ends up joining a gang of bandits led by the brash and brazen Zhao (Andy Lau). Realizing that the only way to survive during such times is to join the fight, Pang, Zhao, and Jiang form their own army and offer their services to the Qing. Bounded by their blood oath, the sworn brothers lay down their lives for victory on the battlefield, but their brotherhood is tested by politics, personal ambition, and rivalry for the hand of Zhao’s wife (Xu Jinglei).
Andy Lau, Jet Li and Takeshi Kaneshiro
Big, loud, entertaining, and somewhat hollow. The Warlords is a solid commercial motion picture that should prove popular. And yet, it’s predictable and safe in the power it wields. You’ll see it anyways.
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