A bit different than many of these types of films of late, as there is no CGI to generate massive armys or to beef up the fights. With the budget they had, they used only live action. Still, the film owes a lot to battle driven films like Braveheart with the typical "chosen one" trying to lead his people to freedom. They also throw in the ole trusty love story, with both of the warriors in love with the same women. Nothing really original with the storyline at all. It's almost cliche' how many epic movie cliche's they use. Is that even possible?
The fight scenes are pretty good, but not great. The action seems a bit too fake at times and the blood looked a bit funny I thought for some reason. Some of the battle scenes were pretty intense though. Probably the worst thing though was Jay Hernandez's (who plays Erali) porn star looking mustache. Jay's been in a couple of my favorite movies lately, namely Hostel and Hostel Part 2, but that 'stache has gotta go.
Another negative was it's subtitled in English, yet spoken in Kazakhstani or whatever the hell they call their language. But get this... it's filmed with them speaking English. So yeah, follow along here... filmed in English, dubbed in whatever, sub-titled in English. Add it up and it spells a-n-n-o-y-i-n-g and subtracts from any decent acting performances. The good news is there really weren't any decent acting performances to subtract from. The horses were pretty good though I guess.
OK, lots of negative there... but if you like action/battle films you'll still like it. The landscapes are gorgeous at least and the battle scenes sort of fun. At least there is violence! In addition to Braveheart, it owes a bit to Gladiator with some UFC style pit fights.
I must say, it's also the best film about Kazakhstan I've ever seen.
5/10
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