I love Asian cinema of all kinds, but even more so martial arts themed war epics and Well Go USA has cornered the market on bringing some of the best to US audiences. Their latest God of War features a great cast including Vincent Zhao, Wan Qian, Koide Keisuke, Kurata Yasuaki and martial arts icon Sammo Hung with Gordon Chan both writing and directing, but does it live up to its title or will it be on that you should retreat from before the battle starts?

​

God of War follows maverick leader Commander Yu who enlists the help of a sharp young general to devise a plan to defeat pirates during the 16th century, who rule the Chinese coastline, pillaging the small villages and terrorizing the citizens.. A violent clash of wit and weapons will decide who will rule the land in this sweeping historical epic based on true events. I loved this film and it wastes no time jumping right in with a bloody battle to start the film. From then on it never fully lets up with the exception of giving it time to set up the next battle before them. There are some really great battle sequences as well as one on one martial arts fights that are all well executed and pretty bloody. It is always awesome to see Sammo Hung in action and while you don’t get as much as I would have liked he has a pretty significant role and gets to showcase that he has still got it.

​

The rest of the cast do a great job with Vincent Zhao leading the charge. Zhao offers up all the charisma and emotion for the role and carries the action to perfection. The visuals are excellent as always creating the time period and battlefields that make you believe you are there with them. I love when war movies like this do some creative things with the battle plans and executions and this one is no different. They don’t do anything over the top or unbelievable, but instead some realism of the time and truly great strategy.

​

In the end this film offers up everything you could want in a martial arts war epic and more. I loved this film from beginning to end and is one that should not be missed. If you are a fan of this genre or just the iconic Sammo Hung then this is a movie for you.