Musa the Warrior, a Korean/Chinese co-production, is much more realistic than is expected Asian action films. There are no flying kung-fu fighters on wires, no leaping over tall buildings in a single bound, no puffed up "my kung fu is better than your kung fu" encounters, not even good guys vs bad guys. This is real epic conflict in the medieval world.
The title is a slightly clumsy because there's is no character named Musa, which is a Korean word for a medieval knight or warrior, & not a personal name. But nothing else about the film is clumsy.
In a violent world of warring factions, a small band of Koreans from a diplomatic mission are trying against all odds to get back home to Korea. It's hard enough to get back home across a landscape of hardships & warlords, but it's even more complicated when they encounter a Ming princess (Zhang Ziyi, starring also in House of Flying Daggers) who just might help them complete their original diplomatic mission if they will first help her.
Just about everyone is bad & good; we have our favorites -- the archer & the spearman are such amazing figures -- but no one is all bad or all good, on any side.
Toward the end, as in Braveheart, the battle scenes get to feel redundant, but they are great battle scenes horrifyingly convincing, set against breathtaking vistas.
copyright © by Paghat the Ratgirl
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