August 30, 2023
by Carla Hay
“Warrior King”
Directed by Lu Qi
Culture Representation: Taking place in ancient Tibet, the animated film “Warrior King” (based on the Tibetan epic “King Gesar”) has an all-Asian cast of characters representing the working-class and middle-class and royalty.
Culture Clash: Before he became King Gesar, he was an exiled price named Chori who battled demons.
Culture Audience: “Warrior King” will appeal primarily to people who will watch any type of anime, no matter how bland and derivative the story is.
“Warrior King” only excels on a visual level, since the movie’s animation often looks appealing. However, the movie’s story is a jumbled mess and is made worse by all the stupid dialogue, bland characters, and formulaic action scenes.
Directed by Lu Qi and written by Lu Wunan and Wang Yunsheng, “Warrior King” is based on the Tibetan epic “King Gesar.” The movie shows his origin story as an exiled prince named Chor who battles demons and other monsters in the land where he has been exiled. When he finds out the people in his native land are in danger from an evil force, he travels back to his native land to help his people and reclaim his throne. Something happens to Chori’s mother that could be upsetting to very young children.
“Warrior King” is essentially a movie that doesn’t have much of a sense of adventure. It just shows a series of scenes where Chori goes from place to place and encounters various humans and creatures and having mind-numbing conversations with them. The action scenes are very bland. Ultimately, “Warrior King” is a visually pretty movie but has an empty soul.
Cineverse released “Warrior King” in select U.S. cinemas on August 25, 2023.