Storm Warriors is a tentative sequel to 1998’s The Storm Riders. Wind and Cloud are back with another tale that offers viewers a translucent, video game-esque plot with cardboard-cutout characters that are so underdeveloped it’s easy to forget who they are. However, the highly CGI-fused film also provides plenty of visually-stimulating fight sequences that are beautifully choreographed and pleasing to the eye, if not the mind.
The film follows Cloud (Aaron Kwok) and Wind (Ekin Cheng) on a quest to defeat the evil Lord Godless and take back the empire. Cloud and Wind’s leader, Nameless, was believed to be the most powerful martial artist in all of China, but since he was defeated by Godless, the superiority of his skills must be reassessed. Without their leader at full health, Cloud and Wind must each become more powerful in order to defeat the evil lord.
Cloud begins to train with Nameless, who bestows ten percent of his power to Cloud, because this, of course, is all that remains of Nameless’ power. Upon Nameless’ recommendation, Wind seeks out Lord Wicked for guidance on how to defeat Godless. Wicked proposes that Wind embrace his evil side in order to become more powerful. Though Wind accepts this plan of action, Wicked warns him of the dangers of embracing his evil. “The dark side” and all of that stuff.
Both Cloud and Wind begin to train and walk their respective paths, becoming stronger than ever. [SPOILERS AHEAD] They eventually defeat Godless in an epic battle equipped with loads of CGI and an abundance of over-acting. Having saved the Dragon Bone and their country all is well in the Chinese Empire. Right? Wrong, Wind has gone over to the evil side and now must be exercised of this possession in battle, before he is completely consumed by it.
After several action-packed fight sequences Cloud is able to free Wind from the evil that had overtaken him. Unfortunately, this is not before Wind kills Chu Chu, Cloud’s romantic interest. All of the sudden the rocks begin to crumble and Wind and his romantic interest (Second Dream) go tumbling over the edge.
There’s more, but I won’t spoil it. Suffice it to say, at one point towards the end one character asks another, “Why didn’t you kill me in the first place?” If only, the film would have been 30 minutes shorter.
Storm Warriors is everything that is wrong with contemporary Asian cinema. It’s over-acted, CG-dependent, plot-less video game imagery that lacks structure or narrative development. The fight sequences are nicely done though they feel random and unnecessary throughout the film, as though they were thrown in as pure spectacle. This ultimately makes it something less like entertainment and more like a battle to sit through.
Will Asian cinema ever return to the days of Kurosawa?
Head over the NYAFF site to purchase tickets for Storm Warriors screenings as well as the rest of the films in the festival!