Kingdom: Return of the Great General

The third part of a series of war films set in ancient China. Shin was born a slave, taught himself the sword and is trying to rise in the army. The state of Qin is at war with its neighbour and in this film a large army crosses the border. The state calls up the only man who can stop the commander opposite: a general who has not taken the field for years and whose name has become legend. Most of the film is given to a single battle. The narrative shows the plans of both sides in turn: which unit goes where, which hill is held by whom and how the commanders read each other. Shin's own line runs through it. He is at the head of a small unit and the choices he makes decide what he will become as a soldier. The battle scenes are crowded and largely shot on location; the dust, the horses and the choreography of crowds are the strongest thing in it. The source is Yasuhisa Hara's long-running manga. Kento Yamazaki, Takao Osawa and Ryo Yoshizawa are in the cast. Shinsuke Sato directed. A showy production for anyone who likes East Asian war films and manga adaptations. Before you watch, know this: it runs as a series, and the cast stays crowded for a viewer who does not know the earlier films.