Little action and bad comedy

I've been a fan of Vincent Zhao for some time and supported his work even through the rubbish with the hopes that one day he will do something that’s worthy. Sadly Invisible Tattoo is not that project. I've sat through some duds such as God Of War and Wudang in which I enjoyed a bit. Then there were Unity of Heroes, Warriors of the Nation and Counterattack which seems like master pieces compared to this. Don’t be fooled by the trailers which presented itself as an action film there’s barely any notable action here.

Chang returning to a broken marriage, his wife's death and his relationship with his daughter could have been the crux of the story but it is skimmed over. Lan hates Chang but they bond so quickly it makes everything that played before pointless. It is mentioned that Chang is a member of the Kylin Tattoo School it means nothing to the overall story, at times there were hints that the tattoo aspect had some greater meaning but in the end it was all needless and it was just one an absurd excuse for our villain to visit our protagonist. Then we have his close friends, one a duel pistol wielding sharpshooter named Ying Yang and another is a fat friend named Lan Lung. Both contribute nothing to the overall story its so forced into the film. One scene sees Chang defusing a problem for Lan Lung in a gambling den but Chang quickly resolves the matter with the gamblers and making friends with them and then they are shot by Ying Yang, it made the whole scene seem pointless and it felt like it was to establish this conflict between Chang and Ying Yang but it never amounts to anything.

Worse of all is the inclusion of a foreign circus performer named Xi Xianghong. The film maker spends a good amount of time establishing her and making her a love interest to Chang but then for her to disappear from the story, then showing up pointlessly once again at the end. Then we have the much publicised inclusion of actor and parkour expert David Belle who has no purpose, he appears midway through with nothing to do just to disappear again and then reappearing during the final act. He does like one or two parkour moves and that's it. Playing the daughter is Chinese child actress Wang Shengdi but the grown up version is played by Eurasian actress Shanti Lu which is jarring and considering how little they resemble each other. Zhao has no chemistry with his daughter in this film and its awkward seeing them bond.

The film is so schizophrenic, as mentioned there are so many random elements introduced and so many pointless characters added to the film which in turn results in an uneven film.

The film really doesn't know what it wants to be but it's definitely not an action film. It wants to be this western, art house, drama, action and comedy film but none of it works. Comedy appears so regularly but none of it is funny.

Then we have the martial arts or the lack of it. There are brief snippets where we see people being taken out with like one or two strikes here and there but that’s it. There was one moment where it looked like it was going to turn into a decent fight scene with Chang acknowledging his opponent saying to him that he must be good at fighter, then they fight and it ends in like 20 seconds. Playing Asano the Japanese villain is veteran martial arts actor Kenya Sawada, whose fought Zhao before in Warriors of the Nation, in this film they do have a final showdown but it doesn’t last very long. The fight were snippets of quality to the fight but not enough to make it worth sitting through all the crap that came before.

The only thing I can commend the film for are the sets and wardrobe which are of a high quality. There's also moments of decent cinematography with some nice usage of shadows but some moments can be a tad over saturated or over colour corrected.

This is probably the worse of Vincent Zhao’s output and there is nothing worth watching here. Skip this film.

For more reviews:
https://asiancinemabox.wixsite.com/home/blog
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCem8JwdEFUzyDxYuM8sd8UA

Read More

China’s most expensive film creates cinematic history after a disastrous opening

Sporting a collective of talents from around the world, adopting Hollywood’s skills and employing Chinese ethos into the fantasy epic, Asura which to this date is China’s most expensive film with a budget of 113 million US dollars. Boasting talents such as Oscar winner costume designer Ngila Dickson (The Lord of the Rings), VFX expert Charlie Iturriaga (Deapool), veteran audio director Martín Hernandez (Bridman) and Hollywood stunt coordinator Damien Walters (Kingsman). Charged with bringing the new proposed trilogy is director Zhang Peng, a veteran fight choreographer who has made a name for himself in Hollywood with a filmography consisting of Scott Pligrim, Twilight, Kick-ass to name a few.

Chinese obsession with CGI filled epics has become the norm these days with an over saturation of hollow films that pleases on a visual level but feels empty. Films like League of Gods, Wu Kong, The Monkey King trilogy, The Thousand faces of Huada are just a few some of the films that embraced CGI but failed to engage in story telling. Asura sadly continues this trend.

Asura follows the story of a young boy named Ruyi (Leo Wu Li) who begins his life as a humble sheep herder. Unknown to him is that he is the brother of the Asura King (Tony Leung Ka Fai and Carina Lau Ka Ling) who wishes to reunite with Ruyi so they can merge together allowing him to unlock the ‘great power’ within him and rule all of Asura realm. Ruyi is retrieved by Asura King’s right hand man Shi Po Lo (Feng Jia Yi) and introduced to the realm of Asura where will be ruling over. Ruyi’s arrival is attacked by the Rebels, lead by Hua Rei (Zhang Yi Shang) and her team of followers who opposes the King’s rule. After meeting the Asura King he soon realises the Kings dastardly plans and with the help of his pumpkin sidekick Tuka he seeks the rebels for help in putting a stop to his rule.

Released on July 13th 2018 the film immediately received a lot of negative reviews from audiences. Since July 15th 2018, just 3 days of release the film is pulled from the cinema screens. The decision made not by any government authorities or cinema chains but by the very producers themselves. The producers state that the negative press from certain individuals were deemed biased and with intentions to “sabotage’ the reputation of the film. During its 3 day run the film earned a measly 7 million US dollars, which is very low for a film of this calibre. As of now the film is going through some reediting and will be once again put back onto cinema screens at a later date.

Its not surprising if you have not heard of Zhang Peng but its more than likely you have witnessed his work as action choreographer in Hollywood such as Hellboy 2, Ant-man and 47 Ronins. Asura is Peng’s first directional debut and he demonstrates great use for spectacle but little finesse in pacing and performances. Deaths lack conviction and is almost inconsequential as we care little for the character or the emotional baggage that is suppose come with it. The opening alone has 2 major deaths that barely register for the characters are never set up enough for audiences to care. The death of a particular rebel at the beginning is so uneventful that it is laughable we don't even see the face of the character that dies just a body falling to its death. The Asura King is one note with very little characterisation its almost cartoon like. The multiple heads the makes the whole of Asura King is utilised in a mundane way and almost feel like a gimmick. At over 141 mins its way too long to sit through where nothing really develops into anything engaging. The mid section sags as action set pieces take a back seat and drama is placed in the forefront with overlong expositions and an undercooked romance. Leo Wu and Yi Shang have little chemistry and there love for one another just happens opposed to built towards. The other important romance between Tuka and Qi Ya offers little emotional pay off as they have very little on screen time spent together.

Names are given to much of the background characters but you will be hard pressed to remember who is who as they have little to do other than to participate in fights and languish in the background. Performance all round is pretty poor even from the veterans. Tony Leung’s performance is a caricature. Carina Lau only has a head for performance delivering her lines in a flat manner. Leo Wu does care free and happy very well but drops the ball once he has to emote rage and sadness. His emotional monologue never fully convinces. Newcomer Zhang Yi Shang lacks conviction as bad ass warrior and leader as well as sporting very little facial expressions. Rounding of the Rebel team is Paul Clarke (Kung Fu Yoga) who scrunches his face far too often in displays of anguish, Mathew Knowles (Love Me If You Dare?) is there as the big guy of the team, Caitlin Dechelle (Chinese Zodiac and Wonder Woman’s stunt double) and UK contortionist Bonetics makes brief appearances here and there but seems to be interchangeable with other rebels. Damien Walters protégé Greg Townley (Kingsman, King Arthur: Legend of the Sword) has little to offer in screen performance but displays some fine acrobatic movements.

Production design is fantastic with great elaborate sets matched with great cinematography. Much of the film draws inspiration from The Lord of the Rings, with sets feeling organic and inhabitants of different varieties feeling natural. Sadly the Asura realm created feels too unpopulated and undeveloped for audiences to really feel for the citizens. Visual effects by and large is top notch with the occasional dip in quality here and there, most often is the background plates not matching with the character. Creature design is great but sadly execution is not always matched, in Asura the horse’s head is a creature of its own and as our soldiers ride said horses, the heads takes flight as a winged creature, the idea is sound but when we witness the transition it does not quite feel natural. With so much going on the film tries to cater to all audience resulting in half baked scenarios.

Musical score is of a high quality hitting the correct emotional beats as well as giving the feeling of a fable or fairy tale on par with The Lord of the Rings sadly the biggest problem with the score is that its too frequent. So many moments are punctuated by a musical score but silence would have been more fitting.

Zhang Peng has made a name for himself as a fantastic action choreograph so one would expect exceptional fight action in Asura. Collaborating with his regular cohort Damien Walters and Gao Xiang (Hellboy 2) they craft some fantastic set pieces but sadly in most occasions there is some minor things hindering the exceptional fight choreography. The fight set pieces are varied and offer enough variety to entertain. The opening fight scene takes place on 2 mountain tops linked together by rope bridges, though its really hard to decipher the information and geography for the lighting is way to dark which obscures much on display. The occasional moment that we do see it becomes a great showcase of some great fight choreography and acrobatic display. Following this is an aerial and ground battle that fluctuates between entertaining and frustrating. For the aerial battle the combatants are connected by a CGI creature that allows them flight but most of the time these CGI beings obscure the view of what the live action talents are performing so mostly it looks like clashes of CGI creatures opposed to careful orchestrated fights. Cutting between the aerial fight is the ground battle, which provides some impressive stunt and wire-work mixed with some interesting fight choreography. An interesting note is that much of aerial fight was filmed on actual location, which is an impressive feat. The best set piece of the film is the fight between the narrow cliff faces. Featuring a remarkable display of acrobatic movements between the rock faces mixed with some extraordinary stunt work. The only quip about this is that there is so much going on it can be rather chaotic on screen making it difficult to focus on the central action. Just like every other CGI fantasy film from China, Asura’s finale is an orgy of CGI with little fighting involved. The technical side in achieving this scene is impressive; sporting one of the largest LED rooms ever made just for a scene but it provides little satisfaction for the audience. Pseudo single takes are utilised in the fight scenes giving a very nice flow in movement it is a technique dubbed “morph” employed similarly in Kingsman.

The impressive team that Asura had assembled has paid of from a visual stand point; sporting some great cinematography, impressive production design, intricate fight choreography and top notch visual effects but sadly story and pacing are neglected in the process resulting in a sub par film. It will be intriguing to see what the announced new reedited version will be like, some streamlining and cutting of the excessive fat is definitely necessary.

Read More

It looks cheap and is still overstuffed but at least in kind off ties up the story

Despite being a tad more focused than the previous film it still fails to cram the whole host of characters and side stories successfully. Even with the 3 female leads front and centre the film struggles to make their love for Wuji feel affecting this in turn makes there story arch lacking any emotional impact. The aesthetic from the previous film has transitioned over to this film with the cinematography still looking low budget and sets looking cheap, though this is probably due to the fact that the 2 films were shot simultaneously. To highlight how lazy the script is there’s this one moment in the film where there’s this random off screen narration explaining how our protagonists has returned to the mainland but this is a one off and has never been used before or even after. The film does kind of tie off everything but there was always this threat of the government but this is not resolved, so I guess there’s room for a sequel.

While the first film had guest appearances from heavy hitters like Donnie Yen and Louis Koo neither of them returns here. Elvis Tsui who guest appeared as the Lion King in the previous film has a more substantial role but he hams it up big time, his blind man acting is overly exaggerated. Yun Qianqian returns as Xiao Zhao but she is given even less to do, Janice Man also returns as Zhao Min and this time around she is featured more heavily. This time round Man feels like she fits more comfortably in the role this may be due to the fact that she is no longer a leader figure and has more of a relationship with Wuji. Doing a lot more of the heavy lifting this time round is Wong Jing regular Sabrina Qiu as Zhirou, though she was in the previous film she had less to do there, here she has to go through multiple stages of anger, sadness and joy but sadly Qiu lacks the thespian skills to handle these fluctuations of emotion and her eventual turn of character is so left field and forceful. Which brings on more next problem, there is just too much double crossing and triple crossing involved, which would have been fine but things move along at such a brisk pace so things are often glossed over or quickly resolved.

Action wise the film does improve on the first film but only marginally, they are more substantial and does have a bit more hand to hand combat before devolving into CGI overload. Action features more frequently but set pieces are a tad uninspired. Again Raymond Lam shoulders much of the action but there’s little to make him stand out, it’s a case of some hand to hand fighting and then resorting to energy blasts to resolve matters. Jade Leung gets a nice little fight scene albeit brief with Yu Kang, nothing spectacular but more welcome than the CGI fights. There’s a fight midway through that is oddly comical with physiques all ignored, it’s hard to describe but it sees the 3 assailants floating in mid-air in a triangle. Wirework is hit and miss with a sequence seeing various characters free falling from a burning tower and its oddly slow how they fall not helped by the atrocious CGI background. There are way too many times a new powerful technique or skill is introduced just to be just as quickly countered. The ending is so badly staged with all the martial arts masters converging on the villain to rescue someone but none of them do anything with only Wuji having to deal with it. The end does see a fight with martial arts actor Shi Yanneng but as with the first film its more of a show case of energy blasts and chi kung fu.

In fact watching these two films I felt like I was watching episodes of Dragonball or Naruto with everyone’s skill level constantly fluctuating, more powerful characters being introduced and a McGuffin weapon to counteract other the weapons.

The film fails to give sufficient time to all the side plots and a trilogy would probably have benefited the overall story. If you enjoyed the first film that I’m sure you will enjoy this film.

For more reviews:
https://asiancinemabox.wixsite.com/home/blog
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCem8JwdEFUzyDxYuM8sd8UA

Read More

A beat for beak remake of Wong Jing’s original film but done much worse

Some of you may remember back in 1993 Wong Jing directed a film called Kung Fu Cult Master starring Jet Li. It was meant to be a 2 parter with a sequel lined up but the 1st film failed critically and commercially. Subsequently the film garnered a cult following but there wasn't much demand for a remake. Wong Jing along with Hong Kong DP Keung Kwok Man brings us an updated version of The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber tale, titled New Kung Fu Cult Master 1 as the title suggest this is the first in a 2 parter. The release on streaming platform already tells you about the quality of the film.

The film sees the 6 martial arts schools wanting to eradicate the so called evil faction but each school has their own agenda and wants to be ruler of the martial arts world. We follow Zhang Wuji (Raymond Lam) a child born from the father of the good martial society and the mother of the evil martial society. After years of seclusion Wuji's parents decides to return to the martial arts world but there arrival is met with the 6 martial arts schools who kills Wuji's father in the process. Years pass and the now adult Wuji with his new found friend Xiao Zhao (Yun Qianqian) overhear that all the years of feud between the good and evil factions were orchestrated by the government in secret lead by Zhao Min (Janice Man). During their little escapade Xiao Zhao is injured and Wuiji has to take her to Guang Ming mountain the base of the evil sect but due to a scheme of the 6 martial arts schools those at Guang Ming mountain mistake Wuji as a fraud. During this moment the 6 martial arts school storm the mountain to confront the evil sect and end them once and for all but Wuji manages to prevent this from happening resulting in the 6 schools retreating. Wuji is made the new leader of the evil faction and he goes to warn Wudang members of an impending attack but it's too late and he is confronted by Zhao Min.

The story is actually more complex but it will be difficult for me to cover the large amount of details present in the film. There are just way too many characters even for 2 films to cover. The film is based on the novels by famed Wuxia author Louis Cha whose complex story has been adapted many times before and I fondly remember watching the story unfold on a TV serial, it had so much time to flesh out characters and plot points while this film struggles to effectively juggle so much that's happening often skipping onto events rapidly and introducing characters with no explanation or contribution to the story.

The film is produced by the Shaw Brothers company which owns TVB so we are presented with a host of TVB actors, with Raymond Lam headlining the title character. Sadly Raymond Lam processes little charm and is rather bland in the role. The biggest names are of course Donnie Yen and Louis Koo but both are extended cameos only. Louis Koo looks bored and is killed of near the beginning as for Donnie Yen it felt like he could be played by anyone and appears during the beginning and near the end with little to do. Neither Janice Man nor Yun Qianqian can do justice to what Sharla Cheung and Chingmy Yau did for the roles. Janice Man in particular lacks the authoritive nature that the role demands often coming across as weak.

Budget constraints are apparent throughout with sets looking straight out of TV series and the costumes are just so cartoon. Lighting is not much better again looking like a TV serial just spruced up with some added shadows here and there opposed to the washed out look we get from TVB. It’s troubling when you consider that one half of the directors is a DP of renown for works on One Night in Mongkok and Seven Swords. Then there are scenes with a sparsity of extras and it really makes the scenes look small scale.

Comparisons to the original Kung Fu Cult Master film is inevitable and man does this film pale in comparison. The film almost follows the original film beat for beat. The structure and set pieces are pretty much the same but done much worse.

The fights looks like they are done for TV, they are quick and devoid of any creativity. CGI and wire work is the order of the day. Raymond Lam is no Jet Li but they could have tried doing more with him, instead we get these awkward fight scenes that feels tired and uninteresting. Donnie Yen gets a very mundane fight during the beginning and nothing after that. Then we have set pieces rip straight from the original Kung Fu Cult Master, the original we saw Jet Li versus Cho Wing in an impressive display of kung fu skills, this new version sees Raymond Lam take on martial arts actor Oscar Li where horrible CGI is featured throughout. It then has the audacity to implement the same situation where we see Oscar Li’s eagle claw ripping into the pillar which was something that played out in the original film. The ending is an orgy of CGI, energy beams coming out of the swords and things explode. Even with a host of credible fighters such as Donnie Yen, Xiong Xin Xin, Shi Yanneng, Yu Kang and Louis Fan not an ounce of quality fight choreography comes from this film. There’s also this awkward undercranking that is used occasionally in the film and this also filters into the fights.

One positive is that there’s none of the crass humour that featured in the original version.

I think my biggest enjoyment from this film was spotting celebrities like Elvis Tsui, Mars, Jade Leung, Shi Yanneng, Xiong Xin Xin, Louis Fan but none of this makes the film worth sitting through.

For more reviews:
https://asiancinemabox.wixsite.com/home/blog
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCem8JwdEFUzyDxYuM8sd8UA

Read More

Yuen Woo Ping once again demonstrates why he is the master

During the heyday of Hong Kong cinema Hong Kong released countless traditional kung fu films especially after the success of Jackie Chan’s Snake in the Eagle Shadow and Drunken Master. It is safe to say that many martial arts fans have seen these films as well as seeing the other better-known titles such as Prodigal Son, Warriors Two, Knockabout and countless others. Sometimes there are those that fall under the radar, unless you are a die-hard fan you will more than likely not heard of these gems. Buddhist Fist is such a film, rarely is it mentioned in the same light as the fore mentioned films but just as much deserving acclaim. Directed and choreographed by none other than Yuen Woo Ping with Tsui Siu Ming serving as co-director and one of the lead actors along with Woo Ping’s brother, Yuen Shun Yi. It’s one of the few opportunities to see Sui Ming in front of the camera and here he and Shun Yi are a joy to behold.

Young Ah Hsiang and young monk Siu Ming become childhood friends as a stolen potato by Sui Ming leads to the two fending of a bunch of kids. Ah Hsiang joins Siu Ming in studying kung fu. Fast forward some years and both adult Ah Hsiang (Yuen Shun Yi) and Sui Ming (Tsui Siu Ming) have become proficient in martial arts. With the blessing of his godfather (Cheung Hei) Ah Hsiang departs to the big city to earn money as a barber. Due to some misunderstanding and careless behaviour Ah Hsiang and his buddy Yu (Chan Lung) gets fired from their jobs resulting in his return back to his town. Meanwhile back at his hometown a mystery mastermind, who is after a priceless jade statute at the temple, is setting up a monk (no surprise who this is) with frolicking and the murder of a prostitute, with the plan to blackmail him into doing his bidding. Ah Hsiang returns to find that his godfather has gone missing and sets about in locating his whereabouts. His search leads him to an old friend working at an incense store owned by Mr Chen (Lee Hoi San) without any information he continues his search around town, which draws various assassination attempts. Eventually locating his godfather he finds out that it was his witnessing of the assailants attempts to steal the statute that lead to his predicament. The mastermind is unveiled and the audience is treated an epic showdown of great martial artists duking it out.

Yuen Woo Ping is a very competent action choreographer his films is widely recognised as some of the best in martial arts cinema but there are times where his films fall short of expectations such as The Miracle Fighters or Snuff Bottle Connection. Buddhist Fist is definitely one of his better films from his vast library of films, the kung fu on display here is phenomenal, with intricate choreography and complex movements. It is helped by Yuen Shun Yi who is in fine form and is capable of delivering some very complicated moves and shows off how nimble he is. It is such a shame that Shun Yi never got the recognition he deserves as he is on par with the likes of Jackie Chan and Yuen Biao. The surprise is Tsui Siu Ming (better known for being behind the camera as action coordinator) makes a rare on screen appearance, his movements and techniques are very crisp and clean, making it a shame that he did not subsequently star in more kung fu films. The film consists of many fights and each one progresses in imagination, Shun Yi shoulders much of the reasonability as the main protagonist and gets to go toe to toe with some fine stunt actors in the industry. Each situation presents a unique encounter; Shu Yi fights with a fortune-teller (Sung Gam Loi) with the aid of his sifu (Fan Mei Sheng), a confrontation with a hunchback (San Kuai), a weapons duel with Lee Hoi San and various exchanges with Tsui Siu Ming. Despite Hong Kong’s assorted mix of traditional kung fu films Buddhist Fist still feels refreshing to watch and that falls down to the creative choreography.

Yuen Shun Yi is a fine actor whether he is the villain or the lead he portrays each one convincingly, here he shows general likability. Tsui Siu Ming again deserves credit for his performance as the monk; possessing vulnerability and innocence. Chan Lung makes a welcome friend but a shame that he does not show off his martial arts skills. Also making welcome appearances are the other Yuen sibling’s Brandy Yuen Jan Yeung, Yuen Yat Choh and Yuen Cheung Yan as well as father, Simon Yuen Siu Tin.

Those seeking a coherent story will be disappointed as it meanders all over the place with weird and often pointless characters introduced throughout. Also a Yuen Woo Ping staple is wacky humour and it is a regular occurrence during this film though at times it can be at odds with some of the more serious or violent moments. Credit has to be given to Yuen and Tsui (who also serve as writer) in attempting a different storyline from the traditional revenge, learn new kung fu and avenge storyline, but sadly it’s not that engaging. Fortunately there is enough fight scenes to saturate the weak story line.

A big problem that I encountered with the film is that there are moments where the film is shot in darker environments or night-time and during these moments it is particularly hard to see what’s going on, though these scenarios are few and far between.

For kung fu fans this is major gem. It is the Yuen clan at their best with some of the most creative and intricate choreography. With fine martial arts performances from all on board with special mention going to Tsui Siu Ming. I strongly recommend those who love their traditional kung fu films to seek this out.

Read More

Vincent Zhao and Gordan Chan fails to deliver a satisfactory war epic

Vincent Zhao Wen Zhuo was once poised to be the next martial arts sensation but he never got the recognition he deserves. He possessed phenomenal martial arts skills, with a good build and handsome boyish looks yet sadly he has been lingering in B movie and TV serial for a long period of time. In 2010 Yuen Woo Ping cast Zhao as the legendary Su Qi Er in True Legend but it sadly flopped. Next was Corey Yuen’s 2012 Wu Dang that also failed to make an impact. His next few ventures in Jacob Cheung’s The Bride with the White Hair (2014 ) and Jing Tao The Boundary (2014) all failed to make an impression.

Vincent Zhao’s latest leading role is Gordan Chan’s war epic God Of War. Zhao serves as General Qi Jiguan, a well versed battle tactician and martial artist. His skills and past battle has won himself recognition among court officials leading to his recruitment in battling the Japanese. General Qi is bought in to aid General Yu Dayou (Sammo Hung) after Yu’s several predictable and clockwork failed attempts in attacking a Japanese stronghold that resides strategist Sensei (Yusaki Kurata) and his band of pirates (consisting of Samurais and Ronin). After a quick victory by Qi, Yu is placed in lock up being accused of conspiring with the Japanese in there escape. General Qi is promoted to Yue’s position but is disappointed with is current selection of soldiers and request for some new recruits to train. He finds a favourable small band of villagers protecting there mining operations lead by the hot headed Timmy Hung (Son of Sammo Hung). After some quick training Qi’s army is forced to disperse his army to 3 different locations to counter Sensei’s maneuvers. Qi leads his portion of the army in an attack on a small Japanese occupied town eventually chasing Sensei and his army to their ships for final confrontation. While back in Qi’s hometown his wife (Regina Wan) are mounting a defence from a Japanese attack.

Gordan Chan has been notable in directing some classic Hong Kong action films such as Fist of Legend, Beast Cops, King of Beggars and Thunderbolt to name just a few but his more recent features such as The King of Fighters, Mural and The four trilogy have all been uninspiring and boring. Comparisons to Red Cliff and A Battle of Wits is apt for they both are about war tactics opposed to full on battle. Both fore mentioned films are more successful in conveying strategic abilities. God of War fails to demonstrate General Qi’s intelligent and leadership believably; we rarely witness him planning any battle tactics except for the brief moment during the opening.

The film is rather exposition heavy but none of it compelling enough and there is not nearly enough action beats to entertain and those that do occur are mediocre marred by a bit too many edits. The story meanders all over the place instead of focusing on the main problem at hand, the pirates. Mid way through the director places the pirate threat in the background and focuses on random elements. With such an imminent threat its seems like they have a lot of time to train a band of new soldier recruits. Zhao’s wife is also very annoying having fits of anger towards her mild tempered husband for little reason. It feels like the Chan wanted to hint that there is more about her hence her husbands respect towards her but it amounts to nothing. During the latter moments there was a allusion at her battle prowess but sadly it is not to be. Characters and situations are introduced needlessly such as the capture of Sammo Hung’s character which does not progress to anything in particular, the recruitment of Timmy Hung’s character that never adds much and an honourable Japanese Yamagawa (Keisuke Koide) samurai protecting a Chinese woman that serves little purpose.

The musical score is also a bit odd as the music does not really fit the moment. Though this has been a problem that plagued Gordon Chan’s career, his musical choice has always been questionable from Fist of Legend to 2000AD it always failed to deliver the right cues. The production design is top notch, the sets are lavish and grand complimented by some great cinematography.

Credit has to be given to Gordon Chan for not treading the easy route of portraying the Japanese as evil and conniving villains. Doing what he did with Fist of Legend, he presents some of the Japanese with honour bound by the code of a samurai. We are given more than just one variant of Japanese, the Ronin is a horrible bunch where as the Samurai has a sense of duty.

The fights are more grounded affair thankfully with little wirework involved. The likes of Zhao and Kurata are exciting choices of talents and as a martial arts fan those hoping for a confrontation between the two can be thankful that Gordan Chan gives just that. The fight is a serviceable if a bit lacking in creativity there are brief hints of good choreography as the 2 goes from sword vs sword to hand to hand combat but its all a bit short lived. Not helping matters is a bit too much editing and close framing. Zhao also goes toe to toe with Sammo Hung in a rather pointless throw down between the two. The fight itself is serviceable but some how lacks excitement.

Vincent Zhao gives a fine performance as a righteous and upright man. Zhao’s soft smile and boyish looks presents General Qi with a kind nature but at the same time contains an air of authority. Yusaki Kurata his in fine form he gives his character a sense of pride and honour also shows great intelligence. His band of Japanese soldiers also give fine performances in there rather brief screen time. Sammo Hung shows up too briefly to make any significant impact but does just fine as a respectable leader and a man of principle and respect.

Presenting too little excitement to recommend and not as intelligent as it thinks it is. With more successful period films to choose from God Of War is a hard sell.

Read More

A Low budget Wolf Warrior

Poor old Vincent Zhao he just can’t catch a break, Zhao started his career promisingly filling in the shoes of Jet Li’s Wong Few Hung and starring in a string of pretty decent films like Tsui Hark’s The Blade and Cory Yuen’s Fong Sai Yuk. His more recent stints sadly regulated him to the realm of web films reprising in his most popular role as Wong Fei Hung in Unity of Heroes and Warrior of the Nation. 2021 sees him both starring and directing Counterattack which is described as a military film in the same vein as Operation Red Sea and Wolf Warrior.

Let’s cut to the chase Counterattack is a pretty bad, the plot is so paper thin filled with insanely bad dialogue and poorly implemented set pieces.

The film is filled with many questionable moments like its opening where we see Vincent Zhao donning a jet pack pursuing a speed boat all the while holding a sniper rifle ready to assassinate the person on board. First of there’s no way he can keep a steady aim let alone hold the rifle scoped in, secondly any element of stealth is removed and lastly why shot such a scene when you clearly don’t have the budget in shooting convincing CGI.

The mid section we have Lu and Bai’s romantic relationship but its done with this haphazard montage where it then zones in onto a clock face where the dials are spinning to indicate time lapsing. Not only is all this cheesy but removes any urgency that the film is suppose to have. Within there bonding section Lu teaches Mo how to use a sniper rifle and in a ridiculously short time she is a crack shot. There is a lot of misplaced comedy and Vincent Zhao never feels comfortable with the comedy.

Surprisingly Zhao gives the foreign actors a lot of screen time, the gesture is commendable but not necessarily a good thing considering how poorly written and acted these moments are. Shouldering most of the acting chops is China based foreign actor Diego Dati best known in Jackie Chan’s Vanguard. Zhao himself does try hard but maybe a bit too hard in channeling Wu Jing or even Donnie Yen but he fails to surround his performance with a good script or direction.
I would also like to know why the film is set in a fictional South East Asian country everyone speaks woefully bad English instead of their native tongue. Bare in mind almost none of the actors are native English speakers so you have these awful dialogue sections in English and at times it's incomprehensible.

So let’s talk about the action which they are plentiful but sadly lacking any real punch to them. As mentioned before the opening is an assassination attempt that goes awry and transitions to a shootout but its shot in a very boring manner. Then we have 2 chase scenes through the jungle, one set during the day and one during the night but neither chase provide any intensity or real danger. Midway we get our real fight scene between China based martial artist Myra (From the Scott Adkins film Abduction), her character is pretty bland and have no real threat but the audience can see that she is a very competent martial artist. There fight is framed well and possess some nice impact but it is rather short lived, it is very reminiscent of the Wu Jing v Scott Adkins fight from Wolf Warrior. As the film neared the end I was concerned that they were going to end on a whimper, with of very by the numbers infiltration scene but thankfully we do end with a fight scene that is rather ill fitting to the scene but at least we end with a fight scene. The fight does borrow heavily from Donnie Yen vs Wu Jing fight from SPL, in which both dagger wielding combatants size and test each other out with strikes and slashes. Its a decent fight scene but is occasionally ruined by some odd wire gags. I’m glad to see Zhao managing to shed his more wushu styling and embrace a more popular MMA technique employing grappling into the mix which feels more fitting to a modern setting.

As negative as I was towards the film I feel there is minor enjoyment to be had. I’m a sucker for Vincent Zhao films so I can deem mild enjoyment but to everyone else they can avoid this.

For more reviews:
https://asiancinemabox.wixsite.com/home/blog
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCem8JwdEFUzyDxYuM8sd8UA

Read More

Kung fu and aliens not a winning formula for Tiger Chen

Stuntman turned actor has had an interesting career of late his friendship with Keanu Reeves had helped him in securing a leading role in Reeves’ directional debut Man of Tai Chi. It was a promising start and we all know that Chinese cinema is in need of some fresh martial arts actor, sadly Tiger Chen does not quite deliver the goods. Tiger Chen’s latest feature Kungfu Traveler is produced by iQiyi. iQiyi’s web based site champions original features and series, churning countless projects that may sound good in theory but its not quite so, often quantity is satisfied rather than quality.

It’s 2147 the world has been invade by aliens and humans are losing the war. During the humans last stand in protecting there command base Chen Hu (Tiger Chen), his team mate Zi Yin (Wang Zhi) and his team of robots fights a losing battle. Chen Hu uses his martial arts, Nan Quen to successfully take down one of the alien foes. Retreating to there command centre the high commanders make a decision that the only way to defeat the aliens is to program all there robots with Chen Hu’s martial arts but Hu thinks that his skills is not good enough and they need to learn from the very best. So they formulate a plan to travel to the past and find the best Nan Quen master, Zhou Cheng Lin (Yang Zhe). Zi Yin creates a robot with the look of Chen Hu and they travel together to 1885. Masquerading as a foot soldier, Ah Jie, he immediately meets Zhou Cheng Lin who refuses to take disciples but agrees to have his brothers to teach him because Zhou’s daughter, Xiao Hua (Ye Yun Fei) has a thing for Ah Jie and he believes Ah Jie has a good heart. Soon each master is mysteriously killed off one by one resulting in Zhou taking Ah Jie as a student. Along the way Big Brother (Sheng Gang), Zhou Cheng Lin’s long lost disciple as well as Xiao Hua’s greatest love reappears after being presumed dead. Ah Jie soon finds out learning martial arts isn’t as easy as it seems for a robot, to fully learn the art he will need to be able to feel nature so Zi Yin programs Ah Jie with the ability to feel emotion. Having finally mastered all he can there assignment is near completion, there final task is to upload the data on to a memory stick and place the item in the designated location where the future can find it but Ah Jie with his new found emotions towards Xiao Hua and his comrades makes a decision to stay and fight besides them.

Tiger Chen never really had the presence to carry a full feature film, his leading debut in Man of Tai Chi was passable if a little mundane and the Kungfu Man was lack lustrous, Kungfu Traveler pretty much treads the same path. Chen’s performance is very one note and flat demonstrating little range in emotions. Future Chen also sports a horrible hairstyle. Wang Zhi’s emotions are highly exaggerated with most of her time spent looking at computer screens. Sheng Gang borders on comical as the villain most of time it involves him scouring at people and having half his hair covering his face to remind everyone how evil he is. His very appearance is transparently evil so any mystery is removed.

There are so many lapses in logic that one would struggle to begin with. Why send Chen Hu back to the past to learn one specific kung fu? Why not learn them all to give them an advantage in the war? Why bother learning kung fu if they have a time machine where they can travel in any point in time to turn the tide of war? Where are they getting their technology and electrical power in 1885? How does the alien race know they have travelled to the past to learn kung fu? How are the aliens able to travel back in time? Most of these are left unanswered. Things are very predictable and progresses in the way that one would expect. Everything is telegraphed very early on so they there is little emotional pay off.

The visual effects is serviceable though the creations have little personality matters made worse for how little screen time is given to them resulting in human races annihilation barely registering. Animation for the aliens and robots are not smooth sometimes coming across like a poor man’s computer game. For those expecting lots of kung fu versus alien fights will be disappoint as about 90 percent of the film is set in the past, aside from the opening shoot out/fight everything else is set in 1885. The fights themselves are uninspired borrowing a lot of moments that we have witnessed before in better films. There is a healthy quantity of fights through out the film but they rarely excite. Chen’s heightened abilities and photo memory should in all logic provide with an advantage but he just comes across as a regular fighter. Wang Zhi passes of as a capable fighter but has rarely any moments to demonstrate this. All the costars handle themselves in the action just fine but there is no stand out moment to make it register. Tiger Chen is an accomplished martial arts stuntman but he is not used to any great degree here. The final fight between Chen and Gang emulates the Wolverine/Sabretoth versus Deadpool fight from X-men Origins. Here our heroes stand back to back while the villain teleports back and forth exchanging punches and kicks. This moment last longer than necessary for it never impresses, with the camera lingering in a static position for a far too long. There is also a moment where its very reminiscent of the fight between Zhang Ziyi and Michelle Yeoh in Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon. Sheng Gang attempts to flee up a wall while fending of Chen, Chen on numerous occasions drags Gang back down. It’s too similar and lacks the fluidity and excitement of CTHD. 87eleven stunt team (action team for countless Hollywood productions; The Matrix, 300, John Wick etc.) serves as choreography consultant but one has to wonder to what capacity they aided in for nothing really stands out and as to why they would need to bring in external help considering Asia’s abundance of capable action choreographers themselves is baffling.

Budget constraints are apparent as smoke is heavily used on the battlefield to hide draw distance and the lack of extras. The first opening segment set in the future is at odds with the rest of the film; filled with weird angles and transitions mixed with strange use of overlaying frames where as the past segments settles down a bit more as a more standard affair. The film sells on the gimmick of kung fu versus aliens that it never fully capitalise on, with very little of the alien appearance. China has failed on many occasions with incorporating martial arts with robot and aliens, Jeff Lau’s terrible Metallic Attraction: Kungfu Cyborg and Wong Jing’s Future X-Cops are prime examples and now we can add Kungfu Traveler to the list. Souring matters is the 2018 more successful release of Beyond Skyline that demonstrated it is possible to make a decent martial arts mixed with aliens film.

Tiger Chen serves as one of the many producers in Kungfu Traveler and can share some of its blame. Kungfu Traveler neither satisfies the sci fi fans nor the action junkies.

Read More

Semblance of old school wuxia stylings with a very unambitious story.

Benny Chan is no stranger to action orientated affairs; Gen X Cops, New Police Story, Invisible Target and Heroic Duo all provide a great levels of action entertainment. Though his decline in quality output recently has become more apparent in recent times with shakier exploits such as the misguided City Under Siege, a disappointing Shaolin though Call of Heroes is not as bad as the two aforementioned films it a rather meek affair.

Following the dissolution of the Qing Dynasty, China has become ravaged in the military takeovers. A son of a military governor, Marshal Cho (Louis Koo) wonders the cities indiscriminately killing and robbing individuals and derives pleasures from his misdeeds. During one of his killing sprees a school teacher Pak (Jiang Shuying) manages to escape and flees to a small town called Pucheng which is under the temporary protection of Yeung (Lau Ching-Wan), leader of the local militia. Also present is wanderer Ma Fung (Eddie Peng) and Pak enlists in his help to protect the children but he refuses. Marshal Cho soon arrives at the town of Pucheng and murders the school teacher and a few others along the way. Cho is quickly apprehended and sentenced to death but not too long after, the presence of Cho’s loyalist arrives, led by Cheung Yik (Wu Jing) and demands his release giving them till the morning to make a decision or there town will be massacred. Fearing there safety the town pleads Yeung to release Cho to spare their own demise and Yeung eventually relents but Cho still attacks the town and at the end Yeung and his remaining followers have to band together to save the town.

There are a good few points in the film that harkens back to the old days of Hong Kong 80’s cinema, with a simple story of brotherhood, triumphing against unsurmountable forces with sprinkling of martial arts thrown in. The story is simple to a point and there’s little in the form of surprises which is not necessarily a bad thing. Holding the film back is Louis Koo’s performance which goes to extreme territories and it seriously derails the film to new levels of absurd. His performance is so over the top its hard fathom how this was passed as a good performance by the director. Eddie Peng and his odd facial hair makes a welcome turn in a rather pointless role, his carefree nature and heroic acts is something that has been done to death but Peng fits the bill just fine. Lau Ching-Wan is reliable as always as the ambivalent leader but it’s hard to buy that he’s a credible martial arts master, he exudes a great authority and as a fine father figure in guiding his towns people and his eventual downfall is wonderfully acted. Wu Jing is just a side character whose sole purpose is to fight and acts as a lackey to the villainess Koo. Jing’s is properly the most multi layered character in the film but his plight is rather cliched and his connection with Eddie Peng’s character is typical film convenience.

Handling the fights is the legendary Sammo Hung and though occasionally satisfying, it is highly hindered by some very obtrusive wire work that seriously pulls viewers away from the fights. Hung is no stranger to odd uses of wire work in his films but they are usually in small dosages but Call of Heroes goes overboard with the weirdness and physics are very jarring, (I know it’s weird talking about physics in a Wuxia film). It’s not the floaty or balletic type found in Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon but there are some very strange body movements that just don’t work in context of things. Fights also tend to end pretty much as it gets going which is not a good sign for a film that sells itself on martial arts. Lau Ching-wan don’t quite look the martial artist but he is artfully doubled throughout and his style rarely requires him to perform the more flamboyant movements that is afford to Wu Jing or Eddie Peng. Lau Ching-wans weapon of choice is the whip which is, for most parts put to creative use but nothing to make it standout. The best fight is the night ambush where the henchmen gather to rescue there master, the fight allows each bit player to demonstrate the move set and it is possibly the most grounded fight scene in the film. The finale sees an all-out brawl in the Pucheng village and it is rather underwhelming with Lau Ching-wan not able to participate much in the action. The main draw is the fight between Eddie Peng and Wu Jing which is hindered by an over use of wire work, as the combatants stand on a pile of wine jugs to do battle.

Benny Chan does attempt to add layers of character but it fails to really elicit any excitement or emotional impact. The usage of a truly detestable villain is a very weak plot ploy to elicit triumph but Benny Chan is not known for his intricacy in dealing with plots and characters but usually the action and melodrama makes it for those shortcomings, Call of Heroes does become a bit tiresome for its lack of story ambition.

Call of Heroes is not a terrible film but it is definitely a step down from his more entertaining features such as Invisible Target, New Police Story and Gen X Cops days.

Read More

Old school styled fight scenes makes up for the heavy-handed approach to patriotism

Tsui Siu Ming may not be the household name for western audiences but he is a highly accomplished action director and director. Though his library is not as extensive as the likes of Yuen Woo Ping, Sammo Hung, Tony Ching Siu Tung, Tung Wei etc. his body of work provides enough qualities. Just look at his directional films such as Buddhist Fist, The Gang Master and Bury Me High for some quality martial arts films.

Tsui Siu Ming still adheres to the old school formula of throwing everything together, 2007 saw his return to the silver screen serving as action director, writer and producer on Twins Mission starring Sammo Hung, Wu Jing, Yuen Wah, Charlene Choi and Gillian Chung. It was a mismatched product of old school and new school that did not quite successfully balance the two. 2008 sees Tsui Siu Ming return to the director’s chair in the propaganda film Champions to coincide with the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

In the 1930’s a group of athlete students wish to participate in the Olympic Games but there dreams are squandered by the fees required to send the participants abroad. In hopes to raising the amount they set about in various fund raising activities. Lead by martial arts student Cheung Fung (Dicky Cheung Wai Kin) they embark on street performances, side shows, menial jobs and sports participation. Along the proceedings fellow martial arts student Kwan Shue Po (Xie Miao), in a chance encounter rescues a baby boy of a wealthy businessman from his conniving nephew, So Sam Pei (Chi Long). While Cheung Fung and Shue Po’s master Cheung Chi Kong (Yu Rong Guang) becomes a representative of the Chinese martial arts community which enrages rival master On Yung (Xu Xiang Dong) who suggest that a martial arts competition of ‘winner of the fittest’ should be a fairer judgement of the best martial artist. The outcome is a martial arts tournament that means the winners gets to participate in the Olympics.

Champions can be a hard film to stomach filled with heavy dosages of melodrama and heavy-handed messages of the greatness of China. Subtly is clearly not Tsui Siu Ming’s intentions with things like if we work together we are greater, the unity of people are better and the power of the Chinese spirit are all messages that Tsui Siu Ming forces down the audiences throat. Brass comedy, nonsensical plot, over wrought emotions, undying love, self sacrificing heroism and martial arts fights creates a product that would not be out of place in the 80’s. Amidst the story is some very dull side plots that drags proceedings down but thankfully they don't linger too long before the fight scenes occur. The track race competition in particular is shot in a very mundane manner lacking tension or excitement. Though the film still somehow manages to entertain with its old school approach throwing everything on the table and shuffling it into an enjoyable end product.

Xie Miao is probably best remembered as the son of Jet Li in My Father is a Hero and The New Legend of Shaolin, here he shares costar status and does a fine job as the good intentioned Shue Po. Dicky Cheung performs adequately as the loud mouth cocky lead but can sometimes border on irritating with his constant barrage of jokes and antics. Priscilla Wong Chui Yu over acts as the track runner and love interest of Dicky Cheung. Her emotions don’t quite hit the mark and her pain and suffering is thrust in the faces of the audience opposed to slowly developed. Playing her rival track runner is Debbie Goh who leers and delivers lines of angst in a flat manner. Chi Long who plays the criminal boss gives a cartoon performance that is laughably bad. Yu Rong Guang most will recognise from Iron Monkey and the lead villain in My Father is a Hero opposite Jet Li and Shanghai Noon opposite Jackie Chan. Here he is a pleasant surprise as the master, he carries an air of authority with a sense of honorable pride. Rival martial arts master Xu Xiang Dong is probably best remembered in Tai Chi 2 fighting Wu Jing during the finale and a fellow comrade of Jackie Chan in Dragon Blade, here he is gives one of the better performances successfully capturing his arrogant pride and cocky attitude. Most of the problems of the actors can be attributed to the lousy script.

Being a product of Tsui Siu Ming there is a healthy amount of martial arts action that makes up for everything that precedes it. Collaborating once again with Benz Kong To Hoi (Director of Twins Mission), Tsui and Benz crafts some very creative old school fights where a lot of forms and shape are thrown in. Helped by some long takes and wider angles it’s definitely a welcome product of this day and age of choppy editing, tight framing and shaky cam. The use of actual martial arts talents is a great choice, as the martial art movements are smooth and convincing. Dicky Cheung one of the few non martial arts artist given prominent fight scenes delivers the fight moves convincingly and demonstrates a great grasp of the style he is made to use. The eagle claw and mantis fist are given a lot of screen time and everyone performs adequately. Xie Miao is a welcome talent on board and demonstrates some fluid body movements, it is help that he is an actual practitioner of the mantis fist. Yu Rong Guang makes a welcome return in a fighting role after appearing as bit roles in films like The Myth and New Police Story, though not as agile as witnessed in films such as Iron Monkey or Project S he delivers some great hand to hand combinations against fellow martial arts actor Xu Xiang Dong. Xu Xiang Dong performs the eagle claw with ease providing great power and threat with his smooth movements. Xu Xiang Dong and Yu Rong Guang’s fight is a great demonstration of the eagle claw and tai chi showing great use of locking and reversals. Making a brief appearance is real life tai chi practitioner Lee Fei best remembered in the Iron Monkey as the Witch, here she engages in some brief tightly choreographed scuffles that she gracefully demonstrates nice use of tai chi. A surprising turn is actor Xiao Ming Yue (The Legendary Amazons) who shows much grace in his kicking combinations. A slight drawback is the over abundance of wire enhanced moves that usually involves lifting the talents in the air to deliver an otherwise impossible amount of kicking combination. There is a health amount of fights scattered throughout and each one provides enough variety.

If you can stomach the melodrama and the heavy handed approach of patriotism then underneath is an old school film created in the modern generation that provides quality fight scenes.

Read More

Jovovich’s first Chinese film is an overstuffed spy caper that fails to be above average.

After his foray as director in 2013’s Firestorm starring Andy Lau, scriptwriter Alan Yuen Kam Lun returns once again with his latest feature film The Rookies. From a script written by Yuen himself, The Rookies is a spy caper high on comedy with a sprinkling of action, aided by foreign locations and an extended guest appearance from Mila Jovovich. It all sounds good but the final outcome is a very standard affair. Released only in a select few cinemas The Rookies made little impact in the Chinese cinema box office.

Zhao Feng (Darren Wang Dalu) is an internet sensation whose fans adore him for his extreme stunt antics. His latest stunt involves a 2 man race up a high rise building all the while live streaming. Due to a mishap in his latest stunt he ends up in the middle of a black market exchange of a deadly weapon, fortunate for Zhao super spy Bruce (Mila Jovovich) crashes in to stop the transaction. Bruce decides to recruit Zhao in joining there espionage organization sending Zhao to Budapest with the hopes of stopping a terrorist group lead by Iron Fist (Dave Lee McInnis) who intends to release a deadly toxin upon the world. Miao Yan (Sandrine Pinna), a bipolar cop that now resides in the last department that is willing to accept her is sick of her inept department and chief (Lam Suet) so she ventures to pursue Zhao after witnessing his live stream. Miao Yan lands in Budapest and join forces with Zhao as well as lifelong friend Ding Shan (Xu Weizhou) and LV (Liu Meitong) in an attempt to stop the evil Iron Fist.

The name Alan Yuen may not be instantly recognizable but he is an accomplished script writer having penned the script for Jackie Chan’s New Police Story, Rob-B-Hood, Shaolin and the highly acclaimed Monster Hunt. His previous directional feature Firestorm was a commercial success that hinted at a bright future ahead for Yuen, surprisingly it took him this long to have his next directional film. Though The Rookies is not a complete mess of a film, it fails to successfully meld all its ingredients into a logical and cohesive product demonstrating Yuen’s scatter gun approach and inability to juggle multiple elements. Yet fun can be derived from the film as its spontaneous and randomness helps makes the proceeding easier to sit through. At 113 minutes the film moves at surprisingly brisk pace spending little time to settle down or in establishing relationships and characters, with a romantic love angle coming out of nowhere and never really convinces. The abundance of characters also harms proceedings as Yuen has little time to establish a clear motive for the lead villain whose plans is generic to a fault, not too dissimilar to any of the early Bond villains, in which clearly Yuen draws much of his inspiration from. The film is also tonally inconsistent and the abrupt changes can be quite jarring with moments of violence that heavily juxtaposes the comedy that played before; legs gets sliced, fingers chopped and people get shot. A huge problem that the film does suffer is the editing which is so erratic it can be disorientating, even the briefest of gestures are cut making movements feel choppy and this also transitions into the action scenes.

Handling the action is Stephen Tung Wei (Scooby Doo, Hitman) and what is displayed is fun and creative if a little over edited. The film has a heavy serving of action and there is enough variety to keep things interesting. The opening sees Bruce crashing an illicit transaction, the fight that proceeds is a fun introduction demonstrating creative use of the environment with Bruce effectively disarming her opponents, weaving from the chandelier, under the stairs and along the walls, though the action is often hidden in some rather erratic editing, it may be used to disguise the fact that Mila is doubled for most parts. Midway we are presented with a car chase which employs inventive camera movements and highlights some great driving skills from the Hungarian stunt drivers. A three wheeler motor car chase through a festival and onto the streets is an interesting moment with creative use of the vehicles hitting a briefcase around as our each party attempts to catch the case. The finale ends in a Bond-esque villain base, audience is treated to an extended action sequence mixing gun fire, parkour chases and fights. Those expecting long intricate choreography may be disappointed instead Tung utilizes a combination of quick strikes and throwdowns similar to what he employed in Heroic Duo or Mekong Operations. It can occasionally feel odd that our non-trained protagonist are able to evade and take out a whole base full of enemies but it is the type of film where you have to suspend your logic. Miao Yan serves most of the fist cuffs while Zhao is more evasive maneuverers.

If you approach the film with the expectation of it being a live action cartoon then it can satisfy to a certain extent, the heavy amount of screen animation such as floating on screen text to emulate live internet feeds and text messages all help to create the illusion. The costumes and sets are also highly exaggerated with flamboyant dress codes and lolita costumes lending itself not to be taken seriously. Sets often are highly larger-than-life and the toys provided for the protagonists are often silly.
It maintains a level of visual appeal and can be fun witnessing the quirkiness on display, sometimes pulling random moments that come out of nowhere. Surprisingly the visual effects are of a high standard and that is important considering the abundance of it on display. A large portion of the film was shot in Budapest and the beautiful locations help in creating visual appeal as well as leading an international feel.

Lead Taiwanese actor Darren Wang’s smug performance can irritate at times but this matches his onscreen persona effectively. Sandrine Pinna fares much better in her role fluctuating between nerdy to hot head with ease, her bipolar tendencies can often become over the top. Dave Lee McInnis best known for his role as Raiden in the web series Mortal Kombat does the best with what he can trying his hardest not to cross the line of cartoon villainy which is not helped that his character is written as such. He carries certain gravitas and charisma in his scenes and it’s a shame to see him in such a weak role. Xu Weizhou plays the odd ball inventor of the team with enough charm and fun but his role is not established enough to give any real meaning or purpose to the character. Then there is his onscreen love interest LV played by Liu Meitong who does the sweet and bubbly assistant bid well. Sadly Mila Jovovich fares the weakest out of the lot with an over exaggerated performance and coarse voice to emphasis her level of mystery and forced coolness. Weirdly she spends the latter half of the film sitting out in most of the action which becomes a little of a shame considering her impressive intro. Familiar faces pop up such as Lam Suet as the safe playing police chief, Lo Meng as the unfortunate colleague, Kathy Chow as the hip mum and Danny Chan as the cool triad boss, all bringing some weirdness and quirks to add to the fun of the film.

It does feel that Allan Yuen wanted to attempt to much but never really settling on comfortable genre. With so much rubbish that China and HK have been releasing of the late The Rookies don’t quite fall that low into that category but it does not reach the heights that it should have. Despite its many flaws there is fun to be deemed from the occasionally amusing comedy and the often satisfying action sequences.

Read More

The final instalment in the legendary Wong Fei Hung saga is an entertaining slice of action cinema.

Vincent Zhao Wen Zhuo returns for a second outing as the legendary Wong Fei Hung, in sadly the last part of Tsui Harks epic saga (not counting the unofficial films and TV series). After the rather disappointing fourth film directed by Yuen Bun that featured way too many lion dance action as well re-treading similar territory as its predecessors, Once Upon a Time in China V makes a more welcome return with Tsui Hark once again in the directors chair.

Once Upon a Time in China V (OUTIC V) is much more brisk than its previous outings, this time round there is less political and historical exposition. Though these elements are in place they are not as grand as the usual Fei Hung films instead we are regulated to a small southern town where the governing body has fled after the abandonment of the Empress Dowager, leaving the town in state of poverty and unrest. Following after the events of the fourth instalment Fei Hung accompanied by Leung Fu (Max Mok), Club Foot (Xiong Xin Xin), Wong Kei Ying (Lau Shun) and Aunt May (Jean Wang) make there way to a small town to meet Aunt Yee (Rosamund Kwan), Butcher Wing (Kent Cheng) and Buck Tooth (Roger Kwok – replacing Jackie Cheung from the first instalment) before venturing to Hong Kong. Fei Hung’s sense of justice prevents him from leaving this town and with his team he sets about restoring justice. Along the way he discovers a governless court kept going by a band of righteous court magistrates (lead by Cheung Tit Lam in a different role from OUTIC II) who aid Fei Hung, pirate ridden seas keeping the town under siege lead by the notorious pirate leader Junior Cheung (played by HK action director Stephen Tung Wei) and his right wing commander Ying (Elaine Liu) and a rice seller (Tam Bing Man) who takes advantage of his towns people.

To restore order Fei Hung leads Leung Fu, Butcher Wing, Club Foot and Buck Tooth into the pirate’s den, taking on the father of the pirate leader, Cheung Bo Jai. Fei Hung’s success leads the remaining pirates to attack the town resulting in a final showdown between the two factions. Amidst all this are much comedic antics from his students revolving around Fei Hung’s love triangle between Aunt Yee and Aunt May.

Though complaints have been made about the comedic elements, I for one believe that the dosage was just about right it never devolved into mindless antics and when it was becoming too much Tsui Hark moved on to his next set piece. Both actresses; Rosamund Kwan and Jean Wang do admirable jobs in there rolls, with Wang providing a much more likeability. Lau Shun is in fine form returning as Wong Kei Ying but is given little to do. Max Mok has certainly made Leung Fu his own after taking over from Yuen Biao, his character provides much of the comedy with his relentless bickering between his brother in arms Butcher Wing and Club Foot. Kent Cheng is mainly reprising his role introduced in the first outing. As with before he makes a convincing portrayal of Butcher Wing. Once again Xiong Xin Xin steals the show as Club Foot his mentally challenged character is a highlight of the series and Xiong adds much flair to Club Foot. Roger Kwok makes an interesting turn as Buck Tooth but seems at odds with the originally introduced character of the first in the series depicted by Jacky Cheung, here his character is more action savvy and holds his own with the rest of the team where originally his character was just a medical student. Elaine Liu makes a surprising turn as the right hand commander of the pirates. Sadly it is Tung Wei that is a bit weak as the pirate leader, though his performance is serviceable he spends most of his time snarling and leer with his wide eyes.

Much unfair negative comment has been lamented on Vincent Zhou’s turn as the legendary Wong Fei Hung, Zhou’s carries much poise and confidence as Fei Hung as did Jet Li’s portrayal. Though his romantic chemistry with Rosamund Kwan’s Aunt Yee is given less screen time he still provides the same bumbling dumbfounded innocence of love when around Yee’s antics. Zhou carries an air authority of a great master.

As for the action OUTIC V does not quite reach the dizzying heights of episode 2 or the iconic ladder fight of the first instalment, if anything it is more akin to part 3 in the saga. Though there are many fights scattered throughout, many of them are short and as it gets going it ends pretty quick. Much of the action is wire assisted which may irk a lot of people but it has to be said that Yuen Bun has made creative use of the wire work. Vincent Zhou is a competent martial artist and when he lets loose he is a sight to behold, his fight in the pirates den with the century old pirate is creative display of choreography once the audience accepts the wire assisted moves. Buck Tooth also joins in with the action with duel wielding guns. The likes of Elaine Liu, Max Mok and Kent Cheng makes for convincing fighters. It is once again Xiong Xin Xin that steals the show with his lightning fast kicks and acrobatic movements. The raid in the courtroom is one of Xiong’s highlights as he kicks multiple opponents while balancing on a chair, though he is strapped to wires it does not diminish from the skills on display. Unfortunately the final throw down between 2 great martial artists; Vincent Zhou and Stephen Tung Wei is a bit of a letdown as the 2 combatants spend most of the time performing exaggerated movements with little actual martial arts fighting and when it happens it is over very soon.

As with all the OUTIC entries the production value is phenomenal with some creative set designs and costumes. The musical score is also of a high standard as is expected from a Tsui Hark production.

The fifth entry is actually a refreshing take on the Fei Hung saga. The previous entries can sometimes feel bogged down by the political turmoil’s and Tsui Harks heavy-handed expositions. Once Upon a Time in China V does not suffer from this allowing it to breath and breeze along. The film is fun and entertaining helped by some healthy dosage of action once one gets past the fact that its use of wires.

Read More

Vincent Zhao replaces Jet Li in an entertaining if weak entry to the saga

The fourth film in the Wong Fei Hung saga loses Jet Li (after falling out with Tsui Hark) and inherits wushu champion Vincent Zhao Wen Zhuo (aka Chiu Man Cheuk). This time Tsui Hark steps down from the directors chair (though still serving as producer) and allows Yuen Bun full reign. Continuing from the previous installment, once again Fei Hung is asked to defend the pride of the Chinese by defeating the evil foreigners (mainly the Germans) in yet again another epic lion dance competition. Of course the foreigners being as evil as they are they have various tricks up there sleeves. At the same time Fei Hung has to defeat the ladies of the Red Lantern Clan, a sect out to eradicate the “evil” foreigners.

Once Upon a Time in China IV (OUTIC IV) suffers much from covering the same story elements as the previous chapters in the saga giving a feeling of déjà vu. As with the White Lotus Sect of episode two the Red Lantern Society consists of much of the same zealous individuals who are obsessed with ridding the foreigners from China territory. Fei Hung ventures into the den of the Red Lantern Society and confronts their leader, The Holy Mother as he did during his confrontation of the White Lotus Leader. An epic lion dance is also something that played out during the third installment.

Returning once again is Max Mok as Leung Fu who provides much mischief and comic relief. Also returning is Xiong Xin Xin as Club Foot and Lau Shun as Wong Kei Ying. Xiong Xin Xin is excellent in his role and is definitely a delight in this film. Lau Shun is in fine form as Wong Kei Ying but is given little to do. Joining the roster is Jean Wang as Aunt May filling in for the absent Aunt Yee played by Rosamund Kwan. Jean Wang is pleasing as Aunt May and hints at a new love interest for Fei Hung. Serving as the foreign villains henchmen is Billy Chow as Iron Fist and Chin Ka Lok as the sword wielding Lui.

As with the problems that faced the third installment, the fights never feel fully realized as they begin and are over pretty quickly. It’s a shame as Yuen Bun demonstrates creative wire choreography and has a bunch of talented screen performers. There are action highlights throughout the film but they are short lived. Fei Hung’s escape from prison is evidence of this as it clearly shows Yuen Bun’s excellent choreography and Vincent Zhao’s martial arts prowess. Zhao’s competent martial arts skills are very evident and his movements are crisp and clean that is only capable from a wushu practitioner. Fei Hung’s confrontation with the Holy Mother of the Red Lantern Society should have been an excellent display of fighting skills but is bogged down by wirework. As for the finale we are treated to an overdose of lion dance action that sadly never fully allows our protagonists to demonstrate there martial arts skills instead we are given weird contraptions from the gigantic “Lions” courtesy of the foreigners. Max Mok has little to do in the action department though he is convincing enough. Xiong Xin Xin is a treat as per usual but only has little skirmishes that shows his skills but never fully comes into fruition. Lau Shun also gets to show off show great hand to hand combat that is short lived. The likes of Billy Chow and Chin Ka Lok as villains should have been worthy opponents for the likes of Vincent Zhao and Xiong Xin Xin but unfortunately there final throw down ends with a whimper.

Vincent Zhao fits comfortably as the new Fei Hung demonstrating an air of authority and sensibility as well as carrying great mannerisms and the posture of Wong Fei Hung. Zhao possess charm and innocence and it is evident with his brief moments with Aunt May.

Yuen Bun has learnt well from Tsui Hark and shows great pacing as well as much kinetic movement of camera. There is a great sense of detail accompanied by excellent framing and editing that is expected from the series. Production values are of a high standard as is the musical score. The OUTIC saga has always been about patriotism and pride for the country and OUTIC IV serves its purpose just fine.

Though it never achieves the memorable set pieces of part one or two nor does it delve into the political elements of the previous outings as much, Once Upon a Time in China IV still provides enough entertainment to recommend a viewing. The action is brisk, creative and full of kinetic energy and Vincent Zhao makes a fine substitute for Jet Li. Sadly a good print of both OUTIC IV and V is difficult to track down.

Read More

An insult to such legendary figures.

This was truly an exciting announcement; the idea of a genuine kung fu film with legitimate martial arts actors playing iconic roles; Vincent Zhao as Wong Fei Hung, Andy On as Huo Yuen Jia, Danny Chan as Chen Zhen and Dennis To as Ip Man also throw in Bruce Liang as an antagonist and have famed action choreographer Tony Leung Siu Hung handle the fight scenes, it should have been the ultimate kung fu film. Ignoring that Jeffrey Lau is the director, who has a resume of some mildly engaging comedies (and a slew of truly awful films), even he can not make a dud of a film considering the heft of talents involved. It sounded like a dream come true.

Yet we are delivered a truly horrific piece of romantic comedy and not the kung fu film that was promised by marketing, the trailers (which in all honesty was pretty bad) and the suggestive title. Sure there is some fight scenes involved but they are so poorly put together it begs the question of how it came to be. Matters made worse is that Vincent Zhao, Andy On, Danny Chan and Dennis To are not even the leads or the main focus of the film instead they are second fiddle to the main crux of the story which is comic book geek Fei Ying Xiong played by Mayday boyband member Ashin whose is vying for his love interest.

Comic book artist introvert Fei Ying Xiong (Ashin) is madly in love with Bao’er (Madina Mehmet) a female colleague at his office but he faces tough competition from Zhang Peng (Steven Zhang) who happens to be a bully and the CEO’s son. Feeling inadequate to compete he enlists the help of his comic heroes Wong Fei Hung (Vincent Zhao), Huo Yuen Jia (Andy On), Chen Zhen (Danny Chan) and Ip Man (Dennis To), miraculously they come to life and with some persuasion they become mentors to Ying Xiong, teaching him the ways of kung fu. A fight tournament is staged by Peng but there is an ulterior motive at play and as the final reveal is made, Ying Xiong has to pull up the courage to save the love of his life.

The yawn inducing synopsis is as bad as it sounds pulling every cliché and stereotypes into play and adding nothing of creativity. Throw in a subplot about Aunt Thirteen cheating on Wong Fei Hung and you have got a product that attempts to eschew expectations in the wrong way. Borrowing from films such as Kung Fu Kingdom (2008) – kung fu masters training a young protege, Kung Fu Hustle (2004) – a gifted individual with untapped potential, Iceman 3D (2014) – time travelling heroes and even Dead or Alive (2006) (Corey Yuen version based on the Konami computer game not the Japanese film) – a device to catalogue every martial arts move. In fact the approach is not to dissimilar to the Jet Li’s comedy Badges of Fury (2013) which by no means is a quality film but at least the lead actor Wen Zhang made the film endearing, the same cannot be said about Ashin who posses little likeable qualities, often moaning and complaining about life's unfairness.

Production design is also a little to be desired with bland looking sets and a stupid looking armour that the main protagonist wears during the finale. With the final bout taking place in a sparse underground lair.

It is a painful slog to get through and out right plain insulting for it to be marketed as a “Kung Fu” film with promotional material giving Zhao, On, Chan and To top billing but it is not the film that we believe it to be. Bruce Liang of Kung Fu Hustle fame plays Qiao Shan-Hu which is such a random character and it could have been completely exorcised without affecting the thinly veiled plot. The romantic thread which acts as the crux of the film is so painfully undercooked and predictable with no attempts to justify everyones affection for Bao’er.

Vincent Zhao comfortably reprises his most iconic role, sporting a collective demeanor but also throwing himself in the buffoonery with gusto, Danny Chan does what he has been doing all these years riffing Bruce Lee, Andy On is sadly under-utilised and fails to command the authority as Huo Yuan Jia master to Danny Chan’s Chen Zhen and lastly Dennis To is comfortable as Ip Man but has little else to do. Poor old Bruce Liang is not given much to do and appears randomly as a top ranking henchman to CEO boss and then disappears.

Handling the fight scenes is veteran choreographer Tony Leung Siu Lung whose credits include the criminally underrated Angel (1987) starring Moon Lee, Ip Man (2008), The Legend is Born: Ip Man (2010) and The Woman Knight of Mirror Lake (2011) to name a few. Leung usually implements old school traditional forms mixed with intricate choreography which is now sadly absent from the martial arts cinema scene, so there was high expectations especially considering the wealth of martial arts talents at his disposal. Sadly that is not the case fight scenes employ such basic maneuvers and uninspired choreography with an over abundance of wire fu. Those hoping for any type of confrontation between the legendary characters will have to keep waiting for it never happens in this film except for a very brief scuffle between Wong Fei Hung and Chen Zhen that fails to excite. Vincent Zhao is given the biggest on screen fighting and his showdown with Bruce Liang should have been a highlight but the choreography on displayed is so mundane and the drama surrounding the scene is so generic it makes the proceeding very uninteresting. The grand finale gathers all the major characters together to fend off the big bad guy, the fight itself is pathetic with the villain employing a power suit that can read and replicate the heroes movements and grants super human strength. Andy On and Dennis To do not even get to demonstrate any fighting prowess with in the film, with To being played for laughs and his twist at the end is predictable, where as On has the special ability to move at super speeds allowing for him to just blur past and take out opponents. Danny Chan reprises in his role at emulating Bruce Lee and gets to do the usual kick, punch and scream but nothing to elevate it from being been there done that.

Comedy is the order of the day and it fails to even elicit any genuine funny moments with many juvenile humour and a seriously misguided homophobic joke thrown in. If the jokes were tasteful one can forgive the huge disrespect afford to these legendary figures and characters but because of the massive disservice and poor handling it can feel very insulting, especially to those who have been accustomed to these characters.

Jeffrey Lau once again demonstrate a lack of coherency and throws in everything he can think of hoping for something to stick. This is probably one of the worst films to come out of Hong Kong / China and should be avoided at all cost.

Read More