'Magnificent Warriors (1987)' should, in theory, be an absolute blast. With almost wall-to-wall action that's as well-choreographed as you could hope, Michelle Yeoh in the leading role as an Indiana Jones homage, and a story that escalates from a small-scale weapons deal to a larger conflict concerning a city's resistance against the Japanese military, there's very little that outright doesn't work about the picture. However, I found it very difficult to remained engaged with it. I felt a disconnect between what I was seeing and what I was feeling, constantly aware that I should be really enjoying almost everything on screen but never quite being able to do so. Perhaps that's due to the fact that I was very tired when I watched it, or perhaps it's due to some underlying issue that's hard to pinpoint but has a distinct impact nevertheless. Either way, the result is an affair that's enjoyable yet not particularly compelling. It doesn't help that the flick has a somewhat odd pacing that makes its final third feel far longer than it actually is, slowing the relatively breezy feature down just enough that you're surprised when you instinctively check the clock and see there's still quite a lot left. The movie is well-made in most of the ways that really matter, and its star is as superb as ever as she kicks butt and takes names (and even uses a whip), but I don't enjoy it as much as I feel I ought to. It's strange to feel as though you don't like a particular movie because of your state of mind, as it calls into question any criticisms you have of the affair. However, if the feature was more engaging and - to a lesser yet still significant degree - exciting, it surely would have inspired me to sit up in my seat and pay more attention to it. It probably doesn't help that the audio was awful in the version I saw; whoever mixed it clearly wanted to avoid the common mistake of having people turning the sound up to hear the dialogue only for their ears to get blown out by the explosions and gunfire that follows it, but they clumsily compress each and every action-related sound effect so that they pop less than any of the speaking and it's just really weird to listen to. Ultimately, this is a decent - if fairly unremarkable - action flick with some flat-out fantastic set-pieces but an overarching sense that nothing is as impactful as it ought to be. Still, even at its least compelling, it's an entertaining experience that isn't likely to disappoint genre fans too much.
