Review for The Storm Warriors

Introduction

"Huh?"

That was my first response when Storm Warriors fell onto my doormat. I still get the odd unsolicited review disc from time to time, and some of them do have me scratching my head. "Huh?" continued to be my response as I read more and more about this film, with characters named Cloud and Wind, Nameless and Godless, Heart and Second Dream, Piggy King and Lord Wicked, it didn't seem to be the most considered piece of film making. It also turned out to be a sequel, made ten years after the first film Storm Riders (reviewed on this site, and not exactly readily available in shops anymore). It's also based on a Chinese comic book, one that I had never even heard of, let alone read. My "Huh?" continued when I started watching the film, as it starts in the middle of a story, and try as I might, I couldn't find the beginning. But, that has worked before, especially for Star Wars. I just hope that by the end of this review, I'm not going "Huh?" anymore.


A Japanese warlord named Lord Godless has invaded China, and with his superior chi powers is cutting a swathe through the country's defences, taking the Emperor prisoner, and capturing Cloud and Nameless, demanding their loyalty or offering them death. With the aid of Wind, they manage to escape, but they are beaten, and the Emperor is still captive. And now it turns out that Godless is seeking the legendary Dragon Tomb. If he can possess its secrets, the country will be lost forever. There is one chance, and it means Cloud and Wind training up in a matter of days, working together to defeat Godless. There's only one man left with the skill, and they go to Lord Wicked to ask his aid. Only Wind has the temperament to undergo Wicked's training, but it means giving himself over to evil completely, while Cloud masters Nameless' skills. But Godless' men attack early, and Wind's training is incomplete. A new, dark force has been unleashed on the land, and Cloud will have to face his brother in battle to either defeat him, or if possible redeem him.

Picture

Storm Warriors gets a pretty neat anamorphic 2.35:1 PAL transfer, with a nice, clean, sharp and vibrant image. It's useful as Storm Warriors is a film with a whole lot of production value to it, great costume and set design, a whole lot of CG and special effects work, and the sort of digital back-lot work that typifies films like Sin City and 300. There's a lot of quality to Storm Warriors' image, although given a little extra attention, there does seem that excessive sharpness of a little edge enhancement, and ghosting does crop up in darker scenes. It must be noted that there is a Blu-ray release from Cine Asia on the same day, so if you're equipped for it, the choice is obvious.

Sound

You have a choice between DD 2.0 and DD 5.1 Cantonese, with optional English subtitles. It's a heavily sound designed film, and the surrounds are put to good use during the action scenes, and to convey some of the effects sequences. The music has the right mythic operatic tone, perfect for a film that is by parts, Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, and X-Men inspired.

Extras

Storm Warriors gets a nice set of animated menus, as well as the usual array of Cine Asia extras.

The trailer gallery offers the original teaser and theatrical trailers, while Also Available offers 8 more Cine Asia trailers to look at.

Sneaked into the audio menu is the extra most worth looking out for. It's the audio commentary from Hong Kong cinema guru, Bey Logan. This is a moment worth noting, as this is according to my recollection, the first Bey Logan audio commentary exclusively for a Region 2 UK disc since he parted ways with Hong Kong Legends a few years ago now. As usual, it is a commentary that is worth the price of the disc alone, as the wealth of information that Bey has to share is simply staggering. Everything from the characters, the actors, the story, the genre, to small titbits about the industry… Bey Logan isn't just a guru; he's a commentary god!

The rest of the extras get a menu all to themselves. Here you will find all the featurettes, and most of them are of the short, EPK variety.


The Making Of section has 7 featurettes, running to a total of 24 minutes, and all consist of interviews with the cast, the crew, and the original author, enlivened by clips from the film and b-roll footage.

The Special Effects section gives you 14 minutes worth, with a featurette on Montage, one on the Return of A Thousand Swords sequence, and 5 little before, during and after snippets of CGI being applied.

Finally, and most substantially is the Interview Gallery, which runs to a total of 45 minutes, and offers interviews with the directors, The Pang Brothers, and the film's cast. There are eight interviews to choose from in total, running from just a minute in length to 11 minutes.

Conclusion

Huh?

I've seen this film twice now, once with Bey Logan guiding me through it, and I still haven't the faintest idea what's going on, beyond the superficial 'kewl' special effects, and X-Men cum Jedi kung-fu swordplay action. It's hard to recommend a film on that flimsy basis, but I have to say that even with the 'kewlness', Storm Warriors felt dull and lifeless, with wooden performances, and not a lot of conviction in the storytelling. It's a simple quest story. Stuff happens, trouble occurs, and to solve the problem, the heroes need to find something to help them win, but it all goes wrong in the process, leading to the heroes fighting each other.


Huh?

The biggest problem of course is my unfamiliarity with the story. I haven't seen the first film, I haven't encountered the comic book, but the problem is a more fundamental one of cultural unfamiliarity. I just have no idea of the myths and legends that inform this story, no concept of the common shorthand that makes comic books so universally accessible. It's as if I had been born without any idea of the Marvel and DC universes, had no idea of the rich comic book heritage of superheroes and villains, and indeed had never encountered the stories and tropes that had fed through to them, all the way back to the Greek myths. It's as if as vacant as that, I had been thrown into the middle of a Superman movie, and not just any Superman movie, the Richard Lester comic take on the character, just after he loses his powers and when Zod had just taken over. That is how lost I felt watching Storm Warriors.


Huh?

From what I can tell, it's not all that great a movie either, certainly any film that starts in the middle of a story, fails to fill in the background, and then ends on a cliff-hanger without resolving anything of the plot, leaves a little to be desired as a functioning narrative. This is a film aimed at those who already know the story and have read the comic, seen the first film, and assuming that, no one is too bothered about setting the scene or developing the characters. So naturally this film is at least only going to appeal to those who saw the first film. Having said that, I think Cine Asia missed a trick by not acquiring and re-releasing the first film alongside this one, as the original release was a little lacking technically, and is hard to find now.

Storm Warriors, great commentary track, shame about the film. Huh?