投名状

Peter Chan's 投名状 The Warlords follows the current trend of having raw, untreated kind of movie settings. With shades of grey colors & muck on everyone's face, the storyline tells about the trio's struggles with the political system, & amongst themselves. The fight or should i say war sequences that dominate the first half of the film are unsightly beautifully choreographed & stunningly shot. The second half of the film grows to be more emotionally and intellectually driven as it goes in depth to look at the traits of the three men, who each characterize different aspects of the male persona.

The three blood brothers - one an alluring leader, Heavenly king Andy Lau plays a tragic hero torn amid different factions & I would say his many emotional scenes are terrific; Jet Li portrays the fallen hero looking to reclaim his honor with the right amount of angst and grief but fails to deliver the emotional love scenes; & lastly in every bonding, the earnest & faithful follower (Takeshi Kaneshiro). I have to admit that pretty boy Takeshi really did his character justice & surprised me with his performance.

The story bore strength in the staging of key moments where you will question & even judge the characters, their choices, & at times, forced to choose sides. U may be won over by one argument, yet recognize the need to action something else instead. An additional scene to watch out for is the part where an injured boy screams futile for help from his comrades who are hiding in dugouts beneath him. It is chillingly disturbing, which makes a real and heartrending portrayal without being overly dramatic.

Warlords is the must-see movie of the week if u love brotherly-ties storyline.