“Outcast” is what happens when stunt men direct.
The fights are marvelously choreographed, the swordplay splendid and the bloody body count high in director Nicholas Powell’s Middle East/Far East quest tale. The script? Derivative, dim and dull. The performances? Not much, either.
Essentially a Hayden Christensen vehicle with Nicolas Cage, Chinese scenery and swordsmanship to recommend it, “Outcast” is another variation on “The Hidden Fortress.” That’s the 1960s samurai film that George Lucas leaned on for the original “Star Wars.”
A Chinese king has died, his chosen heir, protected by his sister (Yifei Liu) is on the run. An opium-addicted knight, fleeing the demons that committing mass murder in the Middle East has given him, takes on the quest to get them to safety.
That would be Jacob (Christensen), whom we’ve seen slaughtering Muslim occupiers of the Holy Land, and then getting lectured about it by his sad-eyed mentor, Gallain (Cage).
“The blood we spill here is on OUR blades, on our soul’s, not God’s!”
The old knight suggested they get away from it all, head east. And that, apparently, is what they’ve done.
But in China, Shing (Andy On) is determined to get rid of us younger brother, the heir, and take the royal seal from him. So his Black Guards are hot on the trail of the young prince and his hot older sister. Help us, Jacob-wan, she pleads. You’re our only hope.
Christensen returns to the swordplay that launched his career with gusto and a seriously Bieberish haircut. He suffers slings and arrows and wields his sword like an enraged Land Rover owner waves his dipstick. He’s only happy when it’s covered in red.
Cage disappears for an hour of the film, returning as a bandit the Chinese call “The White Ghost.” He, too, is haunted by his bloody past.
“What do the dead whisper?”
“What is owed must be paid.”
It’s all impossible fights, unlikely rescues and Jacob waking up in the care of this or that exotic woman tending to his wounds and getting him off the opium.
“Tears of a poppy dull a man’s senses.”
As will “Outcast,” though it never pretends to be anything more than what it is — an English language B-movie ready to be dubbed for the Chinese market.

MPAA Rating: Unrated, with bloody swordplay, opium use, profanity

Cast: Hayden Christensen, Nicolas Cage, Yifei Liu, Andy On

Credits: Directed by Nicholas Powell, script by James Dormer. An eOne release.

Running time: 1:39