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A maverick commander and young general join forces to battle pirates who pillage small villages in 16th-century China in the epic historical action drama.
I have heard of Pirates of the Caribbean but had no idea there were pirates swashbuckling along the Chinese coastline in the 16th Century. “God of War,” not to be confused with the long-running video game series, is directed by Gordon Chan who made one of my favorite Jet Li kung fu movies, “Fist of Legend.” He returns for another Chinese and Japanese starring historical epic.
General Qi Jiguang (Vincent Zhao) must turn villagers and other similar unlikely fighters into a formidable defense against the Japanese pirates led by their charismatic leader Commander Kumasawa, played by Kurata Yasuaki, who has been pillaging their shores. The movie has a certain feel of the legendary Shaw Brothers Kung Fu features in the ’70s that inspired and dazzled audiences including the likes of Quentin Tarantino. Also for longtime martial arts fans, the man, the myth, the legend, Sammo Hung, briefly shows up as a commander who used to be Zhao’s superior and advisor.
Director Gordon Chan ditches a muted historical color approach and makes the action big, bright, and loud and there are a lot of aerial shots capturing the bird’s eye view of the historical action. The story is entertaining and with a good supporting cast and the General’s wife, played by Regina Wan, has some War skills of her own. It is definitely entertaining but the major action scenes didn’t transcend like the bold and gorgeous 2002 kung fu epic “Hero,” directed by Zhang Yimou.
Available on Blu-ray Combo Pack, DVD & Digital HD Tuesday, October 17th
