I have watched a LOT of really bad movies, and this isn't anywhere near the bottom of the barrel. In fact, it's kind of enjoyable. The bad guy is sufficiently bad that we he drives the story and justifies our anger. He has just enough complexity that he escapes being one- dimensional. Hayden Christensen is acceptable as basically the fallen hero, and Nicholas Cage is, well, a little off the wall.

Some people complain about the action, and the first sequence is not that great. But the later action scenes are decent, and the last sword- fight is pretty good.

Some of the story is sort of sketched in instead of really told in depth, but it's not inconsistent or riddled with plot holes. What story there is moves along at a good pace.

Nic Cage to some has lost it. He's not the main attraction here though. Hayden is (hence my summary line) and he is either barely succeeding in that brooding act he's putting on (going through a hard time trying to redeem himself, not entirely of his own free will mind you). Following orders is not always the best way to go.

The story is pretty straight forward, the action scenes are decent, but the cutting/editing of them is very frenzy. You might like that (it creates the illusion of fast and hard hits or blows to the body) or not, depending on your taste. Overall this is not the worst of Nic Cages recent outputs, but it's not an instant classic either

In the 12th century, Gallain (Nicolas Cage) and Jacob (Hayden Christensen) are Christian crusaders in the Middle East. Gallain is obligated to protect Jacob as a debt to his father. Three years later in the Far East, Jacob has become disillusioned with killing and addicted to opium. The dying emperor appoints 14 year old Prince Zhao to be his successor over his older warrior brother Prince Shing. He sends Zhao and the Imperial Seal away with his older sister Princess Lian (Liu Yifei) as his guardian. Shing kills his father and lays the blame on Zhao. The Black Guards hunts for Zhao and the Imperial Seal.

Hayden's acting is still wooden. The role has lots of juicy aspects but he's unable to do anything with it. The character is also bad writing. In one moment, he's an addict unable to function and the next, he's a superhero warrior. The story is rather simple. At first, I was wondering where Nicolas Cage went. Sadly, he comes back. If Hayden is wooden, Nicolas is doing mildly weird. His presence screams B-movie nowadays and this movie doesn't improve his batting average. The general story is generic and the rest is mostly flat.