Warrior
2019
Original language: English
- crime
- drama
- action & adventure
- western
The story
A gritty, action-packed crime drama set during the brutal Tong Wars of San Francisco’s Chinatown in the second half of the 19th century. The series follows Ah Sahm, a martial arts prodigy who immigrates from China to San Francisco under mysterious circumstances, and becomes a hatchet man for one of Chinatown’s most powerful tongs.
What it’s like
Warrior, the 2019 series, is shot in a grimy, saturated palette of lamplit interiors, smoke-hazed opium dens, rain-slicked cobbled streets and the cold grey of the San Francisco waterfront, with handheld camera work that lurches into the brawls and lingers on the faces of those caught between loyalties. Its sound is driven by thudding percussion, sharp synth and guitar stings, and the clatter of blades and fists, so the action feels loud and urgent rather than contemplative. Its vibe is frantic, sweaty and hard-edged, a crime-and-kung-fu rush set in a violent Chinatown underworld. Pacing is brisk and episodic, with fight sequences that land hard and frequent, and the emotional register stays tense and fatalistic, following a newly arrived fighter slowly drawn into tong politics and a fraught web of loyalty and betrayal. Violence is central and graphic: frequent brutal hand-to-hand combat, stabbings and blood, along with bleak criminal cruelty, sexual menace and some nudity. It suits viewers who want high-energy martial arts action, period crime drama and a dark, unsentimental world, and it is not suited to anyone seeking something gentle.
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