Warrioress
2013; directed by Ross Boyask

We're taking a bit of a detour from our usual cinematic location of Hong Kong and heading over to England to take a look at Warrioress, which is probably the best film featuring medieval kung fu battling babes you're likely to see this year. So grab a loin cloth and your tankard of ale, and let's dig in.

Warrioress obviously gets at least some inspiration from Xena: Warrior Princess, as well as the "sword and sandal" cheapies that came out after the success of Conan the Barbarian and became a staple of 1980s video store shelves and weekend afternoons on TBS, just before a Jack Daniels besotted Dusty Rhodes announced WCW Saturday Night was coming on the air. As someone that grew up with this sort of entertainment -- as well as "hack and slash" games like Golden Axe -- being a fairly major portion of their young lives, Warrioress fulfills a sense of nostalgia, where all one needed for a good time was a VCR and a 2 liter bottle of Mountain Dew.

Ross Boyask's direction has an earnestness about it which makes Warrioress endearing. The film never takes itself too seriously, but thankfully it stays away from the genre self-awareness and snarkiness which seems to permeate many recent action releases. It's not afraid to to be big, loud, and dumb -- and I'm saying that in a good way. The movie accomplishes what it sets out to do -- it basically boils down to seeing good looking women kicking ass. This isn't ever going to be a film made up of high dramatics or big special effects.

Warrioress does ultimately fall prey to some of the issues that separate good films from great ones. While Boyask does get what he can out of the low budget he had to work with, visually, the movie gets kind of dull after a while, with most of it being filmed in the same outdoor location. Also, to be kind, the acting isn't the greatest, suggesting -- as is probably the case -- most of the talent was picked for their martial arts skills rather than their thespianic talents. But these are fairly minor quibbles, especially considering the type of picture this is. Overall, this is a release that transcends its' humble foundations and ends up being a good deal of fun.

RATING: 6.5