Oh wow! So it looks as if former WWE superstar Dave Bautista has two high-fantasy films releasing on May 5th of this year! Obviously, Bautista will re-join Star-Lord, Gamora, Rocket, and Groot for more Marvel-based sci-fi fun in James Gunn's GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 2, though he'll also appear in a lesser-known fantasy martial arts film called ENTER THE WARRIOR'S GATE.
Here's the trailer:
Written by Luc Besson (THE FIFTH ELEMENT, VALERIAN AND THE CITY OF A THOUSAND PLANETS) and Robert Mark Kamen (TAKEN), ENTER THE WARRIOR'S GATE is a film about a teen gamer named Jack (Uriah Shelton), who after opening a mysterious chest conjures a gateway that leads him to an ancient empire terrorized by a cruel barbarian king (Dave Bautista). Jack will need all of his gaming skills as he battles to defeat the barbarian, protect a beautiful princess, and somehow find his way back home.
Oh my, do you smell that? I'm getting the hint of another "white savior" themed- movie on the wind. Now, I'm not going to say that a video game-obssesed kid can't go and have himself an adventure after being transported to a magical world filled with monsters and mysticism, but if the reactions to Marvel's IRON FIST and the forthcoming DEATH NOTE film have taught me anything, it's that we need to draw the line on this sort of thing at some point.
Now, filmmakers are more than entitled to put a film such as this out there, though they should be aware that plots like this now tend to offend and alienate groupings of audience members on a grand scale. You might think I'm being paranoid, or perhaps that I'm gearing up for a fight that isn't mine, but we've all seen how negative social media backlash can bury a film project deep into the ground before it ever had a chance. All I'm saying is to tread lightly, if that's even possible.
Anyway, Matthias Hoene (COCKNEYS VS ZOMBIES) directed the film, which looks very much to me like something akin to DETECTIVE DEE AND THE MYSTERY OF THE PHANTOM FLAME or THE BULLETPROOF MONK. Starring alongside Shelton and Bautista will be actors Ni Ni (THE FLOWERS OF WAR), Fracis Ng (INTERNAL AFFAIRS 2), and Mark Chao (MONGA).
ENTER THE WARRIOR'S GATE hits theaters, On Demand, iTunes, and Amazon on May 5, 2017.