Last Saturday I was at the première of Warlords. No, Takeshi wasn’t there but he still made the film look amazing. I loved how every shot of him seemed to be perfectly framed, even with blood splattered all over him, he managed to look good 🙂

Other than that it was a complete war boy movie. The attempt at a love story wasn’t quite enough to hold the interests of the less-to-be-inclined-to-violence audience. That surprised me quite a bit because I’ve always enjoyed the subtle yet powerful manners Peter Chan dealt with love; who himself is very mild mannered yet has an intense undercurrent about him. I remember meeting him at the press conference for Perhaps Love (no, Takeshi wasn’t there either) where in his own quiet ways reflected a passion for making films in way he sees it. So even though I don’t love all of his films, I can respect that.

Not unlike his previous films, the art design Warlords is similarly treated with sensitivity. The grey and white tones added to the futility of wars and somehow it felt like Peter Chan was making a statement about our current state of affairs rather than sometime in Chinese history.

All in all, if you’re a boy or inclined to boy stuff like wars go catch it. All you girls out there, Takeshi does not disappoint in this movie, so the gory bits are worth it. Andy Lau was suitably impressive. Jet Li seemed to have done a Russell Crowe, that is got chubby and developed a gruff edge that didn’t quite work for me. He was still graceful as a fighter though.