East Meets West Meets WTF in the Trailer for The Warrior's Way

From the pseudo-Kurosawa duel at the beginning to the dude yelling "This is what it's all about!" over fast-cut swordplay and electric guitar at the end, it's pretty tempting to write off The Warrior's Way as another snooze-fest that's about as much fun as watching a friend play Ninja Gaiden. And yet, interspersed with the cliches, the trailer contains enough interesting, inspired and just bizarre aspects to make me curious about the film.

I first perked up when about a dozen ninjas suddenly fly out of a river. It's visually inspired, very elegant, and it somehow seemed cooler every time it happened. After the lone assassin fights the flying ninjas, he gets banished from goth-Asia and moves to some sort of wild West town with Geoffrey Rush, Kate Bosworth, and a huge Ferris wheel. And here, I'm completely confused but sort of in awe of this juxtaposition of Sergio Leone's west and the post-Matrix world that somehow borders it. And as far as one-liners go, Rush's deadpan one here is as good as any I've heard in trailers recently.

Once the guitar kicks in and the fighting starts, it all looks a bit more by-the-numbers, but there are still some shots (especially a close-quarters hallway fight) that look more exciting and inventive than the average action movie. Even more points for the star, Dong Gung-Jang, who was great in that Korean film, Tae Guk Gi: The Brotherhood of War.

Director Sngmoo Lee wrote the script too, and it's actually not based on a comic book, old movie, graphic novel, or video game. I guess it's a sad indication of the times that this fact also excites me.

Verdict: You win, flying ninjas. Sold.