This movie reminds me somewhat of "The Silent Flute" - while that was a martial arts story of an international flavour - which is set anywhere in the world, this particular movie "Forbidden Warrior" is a Chinese Eastern story which features various European actors in supporting roles - being a French or International funded movie, it seemed to suffer from a clause in which European actors must be used in a supporting role - otherwise there is no sense or reason to have them there, otherwise.
I will add a spoiler - in that this movie does draw at your emotional heart strings with full orchestral score. I don't think it is suitable for a young audience because of this. People do die in this story - major characters and minor.
I personally liked this story more than "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" and while the fight scenes are not as good as in that movie - they are still of a high enough standard, unlike some other international movies with a martial arts touch -whose fighting standards were lower.
This is a Good versus Evil mythical story - and it is about fighting and conflict - universal theme with a touch of romance.
I did feel that the movie fell short - in not having a final confrontation with the evil ruler - that I half expected a confrontation scene with the heroine and evil ruler that never happened. That would have brought the story full circle with a more complete closure - but perhaps too Hollywood? I found that I did not enjoy the early part of the movie because of the oddness that is present in it - that once you accept that this is an International flavoured movie set say in Ancient China, you then more readily accept the presentation. Just like with Jackie Chan in "The Spy Next Door" - it is a good story, on different levels.
I will add a spoiler - in that this movie does draw at your emotional heart strings with full orchestral score. I don't think it is suitable for a young audience because of this. People do die in this story - major characters and minor.
I personally liked this story more than "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" and while the fight scenes are not as good as in that movie - they are still of a high enough standard, unlike some other international movies with a martial arts touch -whose fighting standards were lower.
This is a Good versus Evil mythical story - and it is about fighting and conflict - universal theme with a touch of romance.
I did feel that the movie fell short - in not having a final confrontation with the evil ruler - that I half expected a confrontation scene with the heroine and evil ruler that never happened. That would have brought the story full circle with a more complete closure - but perhaps too Hollywood? I found that I did not enjoy the early part of the movie because of the oddness that is present in it - that once you accept that this is an International flavoured movie set say in Ancient China, you then more readily accept the presentation. Just like with Jackie Chan in "The Spy Next Door" - it is a good story, on different levels.