Jade Warrior Review

First I have to say how exciting it is for me to watch any Finnish movie. I see my share of Dutch, Norwegian and Swedish stuff--but never Finn!

This film treats with a primary subject matter for Finns, especially eastern frontier Finnish people: The Kalevala, tales of the origins of the Finnish people. In this epic features a smith who pines for a wife: he is told by the gods he can have one if he forges the Sampo, which is a hallowed object akin to the Ark of the Covenant.

This film, as rare as a thylocine sighting, is a Chinese-Finnish endeavor. The Chinese (claiming this in the film) also seem to share a similar tale, and even share the term "SAMPO", with the Finns. If you've ever seen Finnish people, they do look a bit Chinese. Kind of like a nation of Keanu Reeves clones, except the girls are much more beautiful.

In this story, a modern ironsmith Kai, played by the stunning Tommi Eronen, is contacted by government archeologist/spy Berg (Markku Peltola). Berg, along with his female partner, have found the Sampo in a dig dating back 4,000 years. Apparently, through machinations I don't care to explain, the Sampo "reacts" to Kai's hair.

Tommi Eronen plays a double bill: he is also the ancient warrior Sintai, a Chinese monk whose mother was Finnish. Sintai runs around with the original Sampo but it isn't clear whether or not he made it. The way the film weaves between 2,000 B.C. and the modern day is rather fascinating. Not anyone could pull of such a terrific cinematic trick.

And in fact modern Finland in some locations looks a little ancient too. What looks bad, at least to my eyes, are the depictions of ancient China. There are some gripping scenes but otherwise it looks like they invited a bunch of Chinese to film in a bunch of old Finnish buildings.

The martial arts scenes are unimpressive because I sense the director did not know how to film them--they should have really worked well but they fall flat. It is somewhat compensated-for: Tommi Eronen's exquisite acting along with his physical beauty. His silken voice rarely betrays emotions, but his eyes are incomparable. As I said, people may note a resemblance to Keanu around Tommi's eyes, but all resemblance ends there.

As to the rest, do not even try to follow the plotline of this Sampo-Ancient-Chinese-Reincarnation movie. It's enough that they had the courage to try it.Get more detail about Jade Warrior.