Based on a popular video game series, Dynasty Warriors is a period action epic that sets up a fight for the soul of the Han Empire. Full of exciting visuals, there’s enough swordplay, high-flying wushu, and stomping melee fights to keep things moving along. A subtitle emerges. “The legend of ‘unrivaled warriors’ predates the history of Huaxia,” it explains, establishing a time and place beyond the realm of Chinese national origin. It’s in these ancient times that the battles occur, a time when the Han Empire is in decline and riven with internal dispute. Into that power vacuum rides the brutish field general Dong Zhuo (Suet Lam), and he consolidates military power while taking as his hostage Liu Bian, the child emperor. The Han Dynasty is in crisis mode, its court functionaries and provincial officials unable to go against Dong Zhu, and the citizens are left in the lurch as warlords rise throughout the region, left free to establish their own power centers in the absence of a strong central authority. Three independent warriors – Liu Bei (Tony Yang), Guan Yu (Geng Han), and Zhang Fei (Justin Cheung) – use their formidable skills to aid Dong Zhuo’s troops in a battle against warlord Zhang Jiao (Phillip Keung), believing they’re supporting the true colours of the Han empire. But they soon realise their error and flee to the countryside, newly dedicated to bringing down Dong and restoring the emperor to the throne.