Times Online
http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/film/film_reviews/article5088853.ece
November 8, 2008 Kim Newman
The Warlords
Directors: Peter Chan & Wai Man Yip, 15, 125min
Stars: Jet Li, Andy Lau, Takeshi Kaneshiro
On selected release, in Mandarin
In 1850 General Xinyi (Li), the sole survivor of the massacre of his troops by rebel forces, falls in with two bandits
(Lau and Kaneshiro). The trio become blood brothers and re-enlist in the imperial army, cutting through red tape to win victories
that make them more enemies on their own side than in the opposite camp. Xinyi, an idealist who hopes to improve the lot of all
the people, sets aside his conscience to order the massacre of surrendering soldiers, and becomes estranged from his comrades ¡V
aiming the film for a tragic climax involving multiple assassinations.
This epic of 19th-century Chinese history, a loose remake of the kung-fu classic Blood Brothers, is notable for its spectacular battle
scenes, and for giving Li, hitherto known for blandly cheerful martial arts heroes, a chance to tackle (very well) a serious acting role as the doomed Xinyi. Hordes of extras are trampled into the mud or filled full of arrows, while sinister old men plot to maintain the
status quo.
More impressive than enjoyable, with a mile-wide streak of melodrama.