This is foremost a big budget movie adaptation of the Japanese slash-and-hack video game series “Dynasty Warriors” published by Koei Tecmo which in turn was based on “Romance of the Three Kingdoms”, a Chinese historical novel written by Luo Guan Zhong. The first game came out in 1997 and so far it has spawned nine sequels. Incidentally, both this movie and the game franchise share the same Chinese title of “True. Three Kingdoms Unrivalled”.
The story here concentrates mainly on the cruel, defector ruler of the Han Dynasty, Dong Zhuo (Lam Suet), his General, Lu Bu (Louise Koo) and three blood brother warriors Liu Bei (Tony Yang), Guan Yu (Han Geng) and Zhang Fei (Justin Cheng). When we first meet Dong and his army, they are engaged in a fierce battle with the Yellow Turbans, losing ground. Fortunately for him, the three warriors step in and help him to defeat the rebels but to their surprise, he doesn't even show any appreciation. Dong then continues to rule the Han Dynasty as a cruel and womanizing tyrant and together with his fearful General and bodyguard Lu Bu, their conduct in the imperial court is truly oppressive. Therefore, this gives rise to another insurgence of various warlords and their armies wanting to bring them down. One of them is warlord Cao Cao (Wang Kai), who manages to get close to Dong, although his attempt to assassin him fails. But he is able to escape from the court and the wrath of General Lu nonetheless.
The campaign against Dong continues and soon, Cao gathers an army of his own and joins up with General Yuan Shao's (Ray Lui) coalition of warlords which also has the service of the three man army of Liu, Guan and Zhang. All this comes to a bloody showdown after Dong sends out Lu Ba and Hua Xiong to take them down.
The final battle between Lu and the three blood brothers is a highlight worth mentioning, so is the fight between Guan Yu and Dong's warlord Hua Xiong; however the opening scene with the Yellow Turban rebels also stands out. These battles are CGI heavy and filmed just like the video games the movie gets the inspirations from; therefore it looks like the games have come to live. The Generals and the warlords have super powers; they're able to command lightning and fireballs through their weapons and conversely they can destroy hundreds of enemies with just one swing. The uneven special effects, though not convincing at times, are adequately executed, after all this is a fantasy at work. Heavy drum beats and screaming electric guitar soundtrack is used to great effect during these battle scenes while softer orchestrated music is the preferred choice for the rest of the movie.
Obviously the attention spent on the designing and creating of the costumes and weapons pays off and they look amazing and highly detailed. The heavy long bladed “Guan Dau” with a dragon motif favored by warlord Guan Yu is one prime example which looks both mystical and powerful.
Acting wise, most of the actors do their parts efficiently well. As a young Cao Cao, Wang Kai is equally impressive; Tony Yang's Li Bei is also a standout. However, poor Justin Cheng who plays his blood brother Zhang Fei has very little to do since his character is so thinly written. Playing the role of Gan Yu is Han Geng who unfortunately is too slim physically to look the part; nonetheless, he has moments where he shines.
Even without a lot of dialogue, Louis Koo is charismatic and oozes enough callousness portraying Lu Bu, the most powerful and feared General of the Han Dynasty. However, the most effective and well-cast actor has to be Suet Lam who's wonderful as Dong Zhuo, the cunning and cruel Chancellor. In a brief appearance, Coulee Nazha plays Diao Chan, one of the Four Beauties of ancient China; her story does involve another plot in the assassination of Dong. Elsewhere, Carina Lau cameos as the mystical Lady of the Sword Castle where she provides the warlords with various personalized weapons.
As a straight adaptation of the video game series, “Dynasty Warriors” doesn't disappoint; the extravagant battles, the costumes and weapons they're all there. Top it off with the breath-taking beauty of wild New Zealand as the backdrop, this is a lavish and entertaining adventure as long as viewers don't expect a serious historical drama.
