Dynasty Warriors

 The 14th-Century Chinese novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms by Luo Guanzhong has been adapted into everything several times over. One of these adaptations now has a movie of its own. Dynasty Warriors, based on Koei Tecmo's videogame series, debuted in China on April 30th. It's now ready to watch on Netflix.

Our story opens in the late Han Dynasty. The heroic Liu Bei (Tony Yang) and his brothers-in-arms, Guan Yu (Han Geng) and Zhang Fei (Justin Cheung), come to the aid of General Dong Zhuo (Lam Suet) to help quash the Yellow Turban Rebellion led by the Taoist Sorcerer Zhang Jiao (Phillip Keung). The General thanks them by scoffing at their humble upbringings. He then turns full evil and usurps the throne. The Righteous decide to take down Dong Zhuo.

One of the Righteous is the scheming warrior Cao Cao (Wang Kai). He and team Liu Bei get special weapons from the Master of Sword Forge Castle (Carina Lau). These weapons help them mow down their enemies by the dozens, a trademark of the games. They'll get stronger the more they defeat. They'll be helpful to defeat Dong Zhuo's best warrior, Lu Bu (Louis Koo).

Let's talk about the screenplay. The film doesn't delve into team Liu Bei's history together. It already has them ready to face the Yellow Turbans. It's probably because their story is so ubiquitous in China. However, that doesn't excuse Dong Zhuo's rise to villainy. He goes from rude general to evil chancellor in a nanosecond off-screen. A few other events also get rushed with narration. Faring the worst is Lu Bu's subplot with Dong Zhuo's intended, Diaochan (Gulnazar), a character introduced in the last half-hour. We think we'll get a confrontation between the men, like in the novel, but no. 

Meanwhile, Cao Cao fluctuates between schemer and tragic villain. He murders an innocent man and his family over a misunderstanding. It's a likely hallucination given the red filter. How'd that happen? Neither he or the film dwell on the question. His callousness over the affair disgusts his friend, Chen Gong (Eddie Cheung). But his patriotism is still admirable. Still, his character needed some more time.

Its technical style is its strongest asset. Especially in the opening scene. We see massive armies converge to do battle in New Zealand, standing in for ancient China. Armies are sent flying into the air with a single blow. Zhang Jiao even turns his soldiers into zombies (not in the novel) who dogpile on Dong Zhuo. It's that kind of movie. The remaining fights are as over-the-top as the games. Team Liu Bei's final battle with Lu Bu is chaotic, but stylish. The cinematography, costume and production design are top notch. The CGI is somewhat noticeable but not painful.

If anything, Dynasty Warriors sparked my interest in playing the actual games. Or, any of its spin-offs. But I don't think I can get a game console hooked up in my home set-up. Oh well. I have one translation of the novel, so I can go there. The movie works best if you don't dwell on it too much. Its video game action is handled better than its famous story. 118 minutes is to short to tell its tale; another half-hour would suffice. Its story already covers the first nine chapters out of 120!