The Warrior's Way

The American-educated Korean filmmaker Sngmoo Lee makes his directorial debut with THE WARRIOR'S WAY, and it's a great deal of fun. It pairs up Korean and American stars, as well as the martial arts and Western genres (though it's definitely better versed in the former than in the latter). The result is slick, brisk, and entertaining, although some audiences may be unsettled by the presence of a baby in the midst of all the violence, as well as brief violent acts committed against a young girl.

Jang Dong-gun (previously seen in Chen Kaige's The Promise) turns in an appealingly low-key, stoic performance, and he's nicely matched by the high power of his American co-stars, especially the spunky Bosworth, who has never been better. Lee draws from a number of genre conventions, but he does so with cheerful self-awareness and mixes them all together with a kind of infectious glee. His action sequences are clear and snappy, with the ante forever being upped for the unbelievably explosive climax.