The Storm Warriors

It's a jump-kicking, sword-swinging, all balletic sequel to The Storm Riders - about time! Plus win tickets!

If you've not heard of The Storm Riders before, here's all you need to know - it has Sonny Chiba in it, arguably the coolest man alive. On top of that, it's got over the top wire work, an overblown plot that would be laughable were the actors not so passionate about it, and it's just a lot of plain fun.

But it's also over ten years old, so it's kind of odd that all of a sudden a mammoth, 300-hundred inspired sequel has come out, with the same two male leads in the title roles. But it doesn't take long for that over the top wuxia action to win your heart, and before you know it you're caught up in the cheesy plot and having a grand old time.

I'll be brief, lest I sound like I'm making this up.

The Storm Warriors recounts the tale of Wind and Cloud, best martial arts mates who find themselves, and their master, Nameless, in the clutches of the evil (and evilly Japanese) Lord Godless, who wants no less than to subjugate all of China under his impressively armoured martial arts heel. In the fight to keep China free, the two embark on an epic journey to discover themselves, their skills, and kill lots of dudes.

There's a handful of female characters, but in true old-school martial arts tradition, they seem to only exist so they can either die, breathily say the leads' names over and over again, or both.

It might sound like I'm giving the film short shrift, but far from it - this is classic wuxia. If you're not familiar with the term, think kung fu ballet, or sword opera, and you'll get the gyst. It's all very broad strokes stuff, with journeys of a thousands days and epics philosophies reduced to quickfire scene changes and one or two lines of dialogue. What's important are the emotions, the fight between good and evil, and righteously kicking arse in the most outlandish manner possible.

And on that level, The Storm Warriors is a flying success.

Each barely fleshed out plot point gives way to more and more complex fight scenes, from raging animated invasions to intimate clashes of will between two motionless martial artists that is expressed flash-edited mayhem. The physical fitness and prowess of the leads is at times truly stunning, and is amply matched by some seriously gorgeous effects work. There's also some serious creative minds at work on some of these fights, especially the sequence that sees Cloud deliver a sword blow that summons binding, razor sharp spider webs to bind his foe in.

It may not reach the same level of pathos as Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, but for pure spectacle, The Storm Warriors is both an excellent sequel, and an awesome film in its own right.

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