Tau ming chong 2007

David Germain, Associated Press: While Li, Lau and Kaneshiro bring warmth, humor and pathos to their roles as blood brothers bound for tragedy, they're better to watch in action or when quietly brooding than when pontificating on what they owe to one another and the warriors they lead. Read more

Keith Uhlich, Time Out: Blood, sweat and tears flow in this grimy action-adventure-cum-male-melodrama, which features a Pan-Asian superstar trifecta doing their best to emphatically outgrimace each other. Read more

Noel Murray, AV Club: The battle sequences [are] suitably intense, especially in the early going, when Li, Lau, and Kaneshiro, low on manpower, rely on wicked-looking traps and ambushes to get the job done. Read more

Wesley Morris, Boston Globe: It's all lavish, if disposable. But in a nifty change of pace, the warriors in The Warlords are interesting. Read more

Tom Long, Detroit News: Doesn't break ground; in fact, it carries on a tradition. But it does so with both flair and passion. Read more

Betsy Sharkey, Los Angeles Times: It is the rising friction between the blood brothers that holds the story together. The arguments about loyalty and larger missions that tear at their alliance feel both age old and completely current. Read more

Rob Nelson, L.A. Weekly: Chan's old-fashioned, highly watchable megaproduction comes complete with God's-eye surveys of mass carnage, the moist sounds of sword-skewering, and little or no discernible CGI. Read more

Stephen Whitty, Newark Star-Ledger: How do you make a censor-friendly Chinese movie about government massacres? You turn it into a soap opera. Read more

Joe Neumaier, New York Daily News: Fans of action master Jet Li won't be disappointed, even if the opportunities for virtuoso maneuvers by him are few. Read more

V.A. Musetto, New York Post: At 113 minutes (the original Chinese edition runs 126 minutes), The Warlords is overlong. Read more

Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer: A tale of noble brotherhood compromised by self-interest and a messy love triangle, The Warlords, ultimately, tries to speak to the futility of war - but it does so by staging one gargantuan dustup after another. Read more

Peter Hartlaub, San Francisco Chronicle: The Warlords gets a release in the United States nearly 2 1/2 years after its Hong Kong premiere, and it's a wonder it took so long. Read more

Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star Tribune: The film has the dirty-fingernails realism of a Peckinpah western, and the same remorseless pessimism about the ultimate fate of men who live near death. Read more

Tom Huddlestone, Time Out: Side-stepping the cold-steel visual perfection of 'Hero' and the fairytale detachment of 'Crouching Tiger...', the film hews closer to 'Spartacus' Read more

Derek Elley, Variety: Laden with gritty action, but with an emotional undertow that carries the drama even through its weaker moments, pic reps a strong comeback by Hong Kong helmer-producer Peter Chan. Read more

Rob Nelson, Village Voice: Chan's old-fashioned, highly watchable mega-production comes complete with God's-eye surveys of mass carnage, the moist sounds of sword-skewering, and little or no discernible CGI. Read more

Michael O'Sullivan, Washington Post: In The Warlords, war is heaven. In fact, it makes everything else seem tedious by comparison. Read more