From The New Yorker
This martial-arts film, based on a video game and set to a techno beat, starts out promisingly: the actors look sinewy and primed for action, and the effects (mostly morphing) are convincing. But soon the movie falls flat under an uninspired good-versus-evil plot and pathetically simpleminded dialogue. To be fair, it tries for a tongue-in-cheek punch here and there, and, thanks to Christopher Lambert (sporting a Catherine Deneuve-like wig in the Obi-Wan Kenobi role), it lands a few. But the bulk of the movie is set in a grotto that owes much to Ray Harryhausen's stop-motion-animation isles without improving on them, and the fighting is endless. It's all paced swiftly enough-like an old kung-fu movie with a budget-but it could have used some witty dubbing. Directed by Paul Anderson. -Bruce Diones
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