God of War
Starring: Vincent Zhao, Sammo Hung, Regina Wan
Directed: Gordon Chan
Studio: Well Go USA
Format: Blu-Ray
Disc Release Date: October 17, 2017
About:
During the 16th century, pirates rule the Chinese coastline, pillaging the small villages and terrorizing the citizens. When maverick leader Commander Yu (martial arts legend Sammo Hung) enlists the help of a sharp young general (Vincent Zhao), they devise a plan to defeat the pirates. A violent clash of wit and weapons will decide who will rule the land in this sweeping historical epic from veteran action director Gordon Chan.
My Review:
God of War is an Epic Battle War Period film dealing with the Ming battling it out against the Japanese Pirates along Chinese Coastlines. We Follow General QI Jiguang Played by Vincent Zhao as he battles Japanese pirates and Chinese as they try to take over. Through strategizing and carefully planing tactics he is only then able to what Commander Yu (Sammo Hung) couldn’t do. Huge back and forth battles go down with both sides playing the chess board. Who ends up on top?
The Story was a good follow. We follow Sammo Hung for a bit as he tries to defeat the Japanese intruders for the past few years. That’s when Qi Jiguang comes in. He creates a beater attack to start the push back of the Pirates. Sammo’s role is limited which by in some reviews hurts the film but we must know he is not the lead in the film. His part was good and yes a bit more would have been nice. The action is scattered throughout the 2 hour film. It’s not filled with action but it’s not letting us down with how much we have. We get some character build up but would have loved to see more and more on the Japanese General side. We get a few sad moments but one of the two only worked. For the first sad moment a younger guy gets killed but we I don’t feel much due to I haven’t seen much of this person on-screen. The action itself was great. Tons of weapons, gun fire, sword play, Sammo Hung vs Zhao, and a nice one on one at the end between are lead and are lead bad guy. Acting wise I though it was good. One stand out role for me was Lady Qi, Qi Jiguang’s wife. She turns to a complete bad-ass at the end defending her village people. She doesn’t take no shit. The very ending of the film was decent but would have liked to see both Qi and Lady Qi on-screen together at the end.
Over all the film was good in my eyes and has just about everything. I wanted more in the story even though it was long all ready but I wanted more character build up of the Japanese side and more Sammo. The overall visuals were great with good cinematography and a great looking Picture on Blu-Ray with sharp details and eye-popping color. For some odd reason the film state side gets medium to low reviews. Mostly due to Historical inaccuracies and Sammo Hung not being lead. Some wanted more action and some felt it was slow. For me I liked it. Great action, loved the strategizing portions.
With that said I give this film a 4.5 out of 5. Its making a killing overseas and I agree. It’s a good film. Its long but for me it’s not that slow. Maybe in a spot or two. I didn’t know anything about the film going in and looked at it like a movie and not a Bio pic. I say pick it up and give it a shot. Would love to hear your views on the film.
Extras:
- Making of
- Trailer
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