This movie isn’t unwatchable, but it is lazy, uninspired, poorly plotted, and——in the end——more than a little bit boring. It’s more of an attitude than a real movie.
What Works: Russell Crowe is clearly having a good time (and, unlike the other actors, it doesn’t look fake) as an ambiguous sword fighter whose true allegiances only become clear towards the end. It’s nice to see Lucy Liu getting work, even if she never creates a second dimension for her character other than “sexy Asian madam.” I wish I could say the fight scenes were excellent but…
What Doesn’t Work: The fight scenes. They’re edited in a way that robs them of any suspense or excitement, and the creativity you always hope for in a done-to-death kung fu movie just isn’t there either. Also, RZA as a director seems lost in his own story, making it more confusing than it should be but without real plot twists and turns you can’t see coming a mile away. There’s no story to keep you engaged and no fight scenes to make up for the story.
What I Would Have Done Differently: The idea of making a hip-hop kung-fu isn’t a bad one, but a good start doesn’t mean you can gloss over the 90 percent that’s left. The movie should have had better villains (the guy with the body armor skin is pretty cool but the real villains are just ridiculous in their bad Bon Jovi wigs), better fights, a more simple and classic story-line with a genuine new hook, resisted the temptation to substitute stylized graphic-novel violence with actual martial arts, etc.