Standing alongside Zhao and with the help of the wizard Wu (Ng), Jack must rescue Sulin from the clutches of the ruthless Barbarian king Arun the Cruel (Bautista). When Sulin is abducted by barbarians, Jack leaps into the chest after her, and is transported to ancient China. Zhao gives Jack the mission of protecting the princess. One night, the warrior Zhao (Chao) and Princess Sulin (Ni) emerge from the chest through a portal called ‘the Warrior’s Gate’ into Jack’s bedroom. Chang (Mah), who entrusts Jack with a priceless chest. Jack works part-time for antiques dealer Mr. His single mother Annie (Guillory) is struggling to make ends meet, and their house will soon be foreclosed on. Jack Bronson (Shelton) spends most of his time engrossed in an online game, taking on the persona of a fearsome warrior called the Black Knight. He's perfectly suited for the role with an imposing presence, but his comedic quips with an overly-eager henchmen are woefully out-of-place in the film and speak to a more commercialized feel to the film.Cast : Uriah Shelton, Mark Chao, Ni Ni, Dave Bautista, Henry Mah, Francis Ng, Sienna Guillory, Kara WaiĪn ancient Chinese kingdom is under threat, and only one person can save the land: an American teen gamer from the year 2015. Finally, Dave Bautista as the barbarian Arun is somewhat troublesome. As such, she's a worthwhile participant of the battle scenes which helps them out immensely. Her comedic turns at the beginning are actually funny as she has a natural air to her that makes her classy upbringing into question during these scenes. Ni Ni as princess Su Lin, though, steals the whole film. His stoic intensity and formidable martial arts skills are quite appealing, yet his attempts at comedy at the behest of Jack are cringeworthy more than anything, despite the effort to perform them on camera. Mark Chao plays the friendly warrior Zhao with a much better air. He hits the self-centered teenager role well, which means he spouts off catchphrases from the late 1990s and generally doesn't do much until the finale when he fumbles into his destiny because the story says he has to. Lead Uriah Shelton as Jack is one of the misses as he's completely inappropriate for this film. Given some nice chemistry that does produce a few well-earned chuckles along the way, the film does zip by a nice clip and serves as wholly watchable overall.įrankly, the cast is hit-or-miss but still come off wholly competent. The mix of fantasy into the proceedings doesn't distract either as the inclusions of wizardry and giantism in some of the vengeful hordes coming after him, yet on the whole it just continues to showcase the rather chaotic nature of this one more than anything. The final battle between Jack and Arun is clumsy in that we expect this scrawny, scrappy kid with minimal training to stand a chance against this hulking, imposing warrior but it's to be expected and doesn't detract from this one too much. From the battle with the thugs in his house to the numerous charges across the battlefield to the fantastic escape from the compound which utilizes plenty of wire-works, multiple performer brawls and some stellar stunt-work from action director Chi Wah Ling to really sell the scene. Granted a cast of capable performers on the Chinese side, the epic battles that take place in the film are fun and enjoyable. With Steven McMichael's fluid choreography, these battle scenes are incredibly fun. Overall, the film just feels aimed at too many different groups that it never seeks to develop its own sensibility.Īlthough the film is merely decent, one of its few strengths is the martial arts action. Most of them are completely anachronistic and seem included only to serve the commercialized aspect of 'Warriors Gate.' With Luc Besson and Robert Mark Kamen's script keeping things moving along at a fine clip, it's sometimes hard to overlook these issues as the film is quite rapid-fire in it's pacing, yet these flaws are still present. The modern-day teachings and customs should've brought more comedic flair, but instead serve only to grow irritation in the viewer. The inclusion of the video-game persona and an influx of modern slang is included amongst old-school wire-works, witchcraft and epic fantasy create several problems. The main issue is the film's wildly uneven tone, which really throws way too many elements into the mix. Despite the intriguing storyline here, this one does have its faults.
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