What has happened to Chinese directors? They used to make such brilliant films, but now they are churning out such terrible ones I am at a loss for words. FROGS today simply crave cheap hype dream o my god so much caring aesthetic foundation and a hit of dopamine and serotonin.
why didn't you understand?it's about profited all along of course, people who appreciates art like you can't do…
I understand the profit issue, but this is exactly why I'm confused Pan Yueming's fame and money have been earned from his previous successful works. At this stage in his career, he could easily choose an 'indie' or independent genre film a year for his image or 'legacy' and could also act in ordinary dramas to earn money. Many actors and actresses do exactly that.
Money isn't always the driving force behind everything. Profit might explain the reason, but it certainly doesn't make the choice justifiable. There was a time when Chinese cinema created both commerce and art; The Shaw Brothers, John Woo, Zhang Yimou, Wong Kar-wai, Johnny To, Sammo Hong, King Hu... the list is long. But the film industry chose the easy way out: attractive-looking stars, dopamine-dependent excitement and temporary satisfaction built on the fascination of aesthetics.
Profit is the cause, but it is hardly a valid excuse. There is no denying that money is necessary to make a living. However, the real problem arises when those who possess the talent and the platform fail to grasp the essence of art and philosophy; cinema then becomes confined to cheap publicity, losing its artistic and philosophical soul in the process. I hope that art, commerce, and philosophy can once again coexist and thrive together, just as they used to.
It is no longer possible to produce films like these. Nowadays, most movies are stuffed with clichéd themes and ingredients meant to hype up fans who carry a Sino-centric mindset.
Films of this kind are no longer possible. Today's cinema is mostly packed with formulaic tropes and Sino-centric appeal, designed merely to whip fanatics into a frenzy.
Loved Blades of the Guardians? Watch Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In. Both based on manhua and hk comics . Twilight of warriors based on "city of darkness by andy ceto" . both have killer action. Action directors are different Yuen Woo-ping for Blades, Kenji Tanigaki for Twilight but both are top notch. Highly recommended!
The vets didn't learn a few days or months. It took years of training from project to project, the same will happen…
Look, reading your comment honestly feels like watching Plato's Cave play out in real time. You're inside the cave, watching shadows on the wall. Zheng Yecheng's opera training? It's a shadow. Maybe a slightly sharper shadow than others, I'll give you that. But it's still a shadow.
You think it's the real thing because you've never stepped outside to feel the sun.
And I'm not even talking about Jet Li or Donnie Yen here. Just take one step outside your cave and you'll see Wang Baoqiang, Tiger Chen. Shaolin training since childhood. Real Wushu teams. Decades of bone-deep discipline, not four years of stage choreography. These guys aren't shadows. They're standing in direct sunlight.
But they don't appear on your cave wall. Not because you're ignoring them but because your algorithm-fed world doesn't project that far. A shadow that doesn't reach your wall simply doesn't exist in your reality. That's the problem. Your cave is comfortable. Warm. Familiar. But sitting inside it and declaring what real martial arts looks like? That's not critique.
That's just the cave talking. look I'm not dismissing Zheng Yecheng. He did train Chinese opera wusheng, 4 years. That's a legitimate discipline for stage performance. No argument there.
But here's what bothers me. You mention him as your example of a 'trained martial artist' yet real martial artists(they know og level acting also) who actually grew up in Shaolin, in Wushu teams, who've lived combat discipline since childhood, exist in the same industry. Wang Baoqiang trained at Shaolin since age 8. Tiger Chen was on the Sichuan Wushu team. These are actors whose martial arts are in their bones, not just in their college syllabus.
And yet these real martial artists barely get mentioned in these conversations. Barely get hyped. Barely get roles sometimes. Because their faces don't fit the idol algorithm. And then fans take someone else someone more camera-friendly, more shippable and hand him the 'trained martial artist' tag based on 4 years of stage movement.
That's not fair. Not to him but to the ones who actually lived it. The tag loses all meaning when it's given out by cave-dwellers who've never seen the sun. You're not praising real training. You're just picking your favorite shadow and calling it light.
That's the selective blindness I'm talking about. And that's exactly how the standard keeps falling softly, comfortably, without anyone inside the cave even noticing.
The vets didn't learn a few days or months. It took years of training from project to project, the same will happen…
You're mistaking 'practicing choreography for a project' with 'practicing martial arts as a way of life.' Yes, they might improve slightly from project to project, but that's incremental choreography retention, not foundational mastery. The gap I'm talking about isn't about experience it's about the root. And in an industry where fans award 'hard work' badges for surviving a desert shoot, where's the incentive to ever build that root? If the bare minimum gets worship, the system will keep producing the bare minimum.
Some people are still stuck in the past where China used manual labor sweat and toil to produce goods. Wuxia thrived…
Primitive? That's not just wrong, it's insulting. Wuxia isn't a side-effect of being 'backwards' it's a complex art form combining physical mastery, philosophy, and cinematic storytelling that influenced global cinema from hero, crouching tiger ..,The Matrix to Kill Bill. Calling kung fu cinema 'primitive' just proves you don't understand the genre, its legacy, or the decades of discipline behind every movement. Technology doesn't replace art it serves it. But to see that, you'd have to look beyond CGI and appreciate human skill. Clearly, you won't.
You(idol worshiper fans) think 6 months of training and pushing through harsh weather is some legendary achievement? That's cute. no !!! That's the bare minimum entry ticket for wuxia, not a badge of honor. Try standing in horse stance for 20 minutes without shaking. Try performing Gung Gee Fook Fu Kuen and Tit Sin Kuen for just 30 minutes straight. ..... etc. Try doing that daily for years, not months. Then talk about "hard work."
I see fans getting emotional "they were exhausted in the Gobi desert, special shoes needed for hot sand, three layers of armor in 55 degrees." Yes, filming conditions were tough. No one denies that. But harsh environment means the crew worked hard, not that the actors suddenly became martial arts masters. That's basic filmmaking endurance, not wuxia discipline.
The actual combat coordination tells the real story. Compare the young cast's fighting and acting to Jet Li, Wu Jing, Zhang Jin. The gap is massive. Veterans moved like they've lived martial arts their whole lives because they have. The newcomers moved like they learned choreography for a project because they did. There's a difference between "practiced for a role" and "martial arts is in your bones." The camera catches it. Your eyes catch it. You just choose to ignore it because your idol is on screen.
Blades of the Guardians worked because Yuen Woo-ping is a genius who knows how to frame action around limitations, and because Wu Jing and Jet Li anchored every scene with real presence. But ask yourself honestly - if you removed the veterans, what's left? Pretty faces swinging swords with 6 months of wire training.
Now think about the future. Yuen Woo-ping won't direct forever. Jet Li is semi-retired. Wu Jing is getting older. Donnie Yen too. Who's next? These idol actors who train for a few months, get hyped by emotional fans, and move on to the next project? They can't sustain real wuxia choreography and acting coordination long-term. And even if they try the bare minimum, blind fans will call it "peak cinema" and write tearful reviews about how much their idol "sacrificed."
That's exactly how wuxia dies. Not with a bang - slowly, softly, reshaped by low standards and fan hype into something unrecognizable. A genre that once demanded blood, sweat, and years of bone-deep training, reduced to pretty actors in costume getting participation trophies from their fanbase.
modern actors only make up heavy like wall painting robot for fAns obsessed cgi vfx no coordination.... bla bla no philosophy noo critical thinking....
well yuen woo ping have successor lets hope something good upcoming ip man film.
You're giving examples of incredibly good, often awarded movies directed and acted by widely respected and renowned…
You've made my point for me. You proudly state you'll never watch Lust, Caution or The Grandmaster films that shaped the global perception of Chinese cinema. You defend a director without a Wikipedia page. You equate marketing metrics with artistic craft. This isn't about 'different tastes.' This is about a generation of viewers who have been trained to accept less and call it 'enough.'
The industry regulator itself just held a symposium calling out exactly these problems: 'appearance worship,' 'traffic-driven popularity,' and the need to prioritize acting skill over face cards. They didn't name names. But everyone knows which dramas they're talking about. The standard fell. It's time to raise it back up.
Don't be 'fans of the product' for glamour and foundation makeup. Otherwise, you'll end up like a frog in a well-suffocated by your own narrowness, never knowing what real cinema and acting even looked like.
And your cafe analogy? Cafes don't destroy restaurants. But when every kitchen in town serves sugary milk tea and calls it cuisine, something has been lost. You don't have 'both.' You have a monoculture. And pretending that's just 'different tastes' is how the frog stays in the well.
Chinese DRAMAS needs actors, not idols. Real acting. Real training. Real physical commitment.
Look at the legends: Lau Kar Leung, Jackie Chan, Donnie Yen, Jet Li. These men didn't rely on soft filters or foundation. They trained for years. They broke bones. They understood martial philosophy—the 'why' behind every movement, not just choreography for a pretty edit.
But let's be clear: you don't need to be a martial arts master to deliver great action. Tony Leung doesn't have a black belt, but watch The Grandmaster or Lust, Caution. Watch his eyes. Watch his stillness. That's acting. Eddie Peng trained like a demon for Rise of the Legend and Operation Mekong. Philip Ng is a legitimate Wing Chun practitioner who understands the art form. Chow Yun Fat didn't come from a kung fu school, but his gun-fu in John Woo films is poetry in motion because he committed to the physical language of the character. Chang Chen in The Assassin and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon 2 brought a quiet, lethal grace that no traffic idol could fake. Takeshi Kaneshiro in House of Flying Daggers and Wuxia proved that screen presence plus rigorous preparation equals unforgettable action.
These actors whether martial artists or not share one thing: craft over glamour, discipline over traffic rankings.
China should be making feature films INCUDING DRAMA with this caliber of performer. DRAMAS with philosophy. DRAMAS where action serves story, not an actor's /ACTRESS FACE feed. NOT IDOL WORSHIPPERS FANS (These are the kind of fans who mistake glamour, good looks, and ‘false dreams’- all this rubbish for ‘acting.’). Films where the sweat is real and the bruises are earned.
Enough of the foundation-wearing generals. Enough of web dramas built on face cards and shipping bait. Bring back the old standard. Or better yet: build a new one on the same foundation of skill, suffering, and soul.
Pan Yueming is, in fact, an GOOD actor; I cannot fathom why he is working in CDRAMA series! His acting is VERY GOOD that he deserves a place at film festivals like Cannes or Busan. It is truly regrettable that he does not receive more opportunities to act in feature films, as his acting style IS ACTUALLY GOOD( Here, I am talking about acting—not about glamour, or "He is so handsome," "She is so beautiful"... I am not talking about such nonsense.). There are other good actors in China as well, but I don't understand why they only choose to work in "traffic-driven" shows.
1
Money isn't always the driving force behind everything. Profit might explain the reason, but it certainly doesn't make the choice justifiable. There was a time when Chinese cinema created both commerce and art; The Shaw Brothers, John Woo, Zhang Yimou, Wong Kar-wai, Johnny To, Sammo Hong, King Hu... the list is long. But the film industry chose the easy way out: attractive-looking stars, dopamine-dependent excitement and temporary satisfaction built on the fascination of aesthetics.
Profit is the cause, but it is hardly a valid excuse. There is no denying that money is necessary to make a living. However, the real problem arises when those who possess the talent and the platform fail to grasp the essence of art and philosophy; cinema then becomes confined to cheap publicity, losing its artistic and philosophical soul in the process. I hope that art, commerce, and philosophy can once again coexist and thrive together, just as they used to.
You think it's the real thing because you've never stepped outside to feel the sun.
And I'm not even talking about Jet Li or Donnie Yen here. Just take one step outside your cave and you'll see Wang Baoqiang, Tiger Chen. Shaolin training since childhood. Real Wushu teams. Decades of bone-deep discipline, not four years of stage choreography. These guys aren't shadows. They're standing in direct sunlight.
But they don't appear on your cave wall. Not because you're ignoring them but because your algorithm-fed world doesn't project that far. A shadow that doesn't reach your wall simply doesn't exist in your reality.
That's the problem. Your cave is comfortable. Warm. Familiar. But sitting inside it and declaring what real martial arts looks like? That's not critique.
That's just the cave talking. look I'm not dismissing Zheng Yecheng. He did train Chinese opera wusheng, 4 years. That's a legitimate discipline for stage performance. No argument there.
But here's what bothers me. You mention him as your example of a 'trained martial artist' yet real martial artists(they know og level acting also) who actually grew up in Shaolin, in Wushu teams, who've lived combat discipline since childhood, exist in the same industry. Wang Baoqiang trained at Shaolin since age 8. Tiger Chen was on the Sichuan Wushu team. These are actors whose martial arts are in their bones, not just in their college syllabus.
And yet these real martial artists barely get mentioned in these conversations. Barely get hyped. Barely get roles sometimes. Because their faces don't fit the idol algorithm. And then fans take someone else someone more camera-friendly, more shippable and hand him the 'trained martial artist' tag based on 4 years of stage movement.
That's not fair. Not to him but to the ones who actually lived it. The tag loses all meaning when it's given out by cave-dwellers who've never seen the sun. You're not praising real training. You're just picking your favorite shadow and calling it light.
That's the selective blindness I'm talking about. And that's exactly how the standard keeps falling softly, comfortably, without anyone inside the cave even noticing.
I see fans getting emotional "they were exhausted in the Gobi desert, special shoes needed for hot sand, three layers of armor in 55 degrees." Yes, filming conditions were tough. No one denies that. But harsh environment means the crew worked hard, not that the actors suddenly became martial arts masters. That's basic filmmaking endurance, not wuxia discipline.
The actual combat coordination tells the real story. Compare the young cast's fighting and acting to Jet Li, Wu Jing, Zhang Jin. The gap is massive. Veterans moved like they've lived martial arts their whole lives because they have. The newcomers moved like they learned choreography for a project because they did. There's a difference between "practiced for a role" and "martial arts is in your bones." The camera catches it. Your eyes catch it. You just choose to ignore it because your idol is on screen.
Blades of the Guardians worked because Yuen Woo-ping is a genius who knows how to frame action around limitations, and because Wu Jing and Jet Li anchored every scene with real presence. But ask yourself honestly - if you removed the veterans, what's left? Pretty faces swinging swords with 6 months of wire training.
Now think about the future. Yuen Woo-ping won't direct forever. Jet Li is semi-retired. Wu Jing is getting older. Donnie Yen too. Who's next? These idol actors who train for a few months, get hyped by emotional fans, and move on to the next project? They can't sustain real wuxia choreography and acting coordination long-term. And even if they try the bare minimum, blind fans will call it "peak cinema" and write tearful reviews about how much their idol "sacrificed."
That's exactly how wuxia dies. Not with a bang - slowly, softly, reshaped by low standards and fan hype into something unrecognizable. A genre that once demanded blood, sweat, and years of bone-deep training, reduced to pretty actors in costume getting participation trophies from their fanbase.
well yuen woo ping have successor lets hope something good upcoming ip man film.
The industry regulator itself just held a symposium calling out exactly these problems: 'appearance worship,' 'traffic-driven popularity,' and the need to prioritize acting skill over face cards. They didn't name names. But everyone knows which dramas they're talking about. The standard fell. It's time to raise it back up.
Don't be 'fans of the product' for glamour and foundation makeup. Otherwise, you'll end up like a frog in a well-suffocated by your own narrowness, never knowing what real cinema and acting even looked like.
And your cafe analogy? Cafes don't destroy restaurants. But when every kitchen in town serves sugary milk tea and calls it cuisine, something has been lost. You don't have 'both.' You have a monoculture. And pretending that's just 'different tastes' is how the frog stays in the well.
Look at the legends: Lau Kar Leung, Jackie Chan, Donnie Yen, Jet Li. These men didn't rely on soft filters or foundation. They trained for years. They broke bones. They understood martial philosophy—the 'why' behind every movement, not just choreography for a pretty edit.
But let's be clear: you don't need to be a martial arts master to deliver great action. Tony Leung doesn't have a black belt, but watch The Grandmaster or Lust, Caution. Watch his eyes. Watch his stillness. That's acting. Eddie Peng trained like a demon for Rise of the Legend and Operation Mekong. Philip Ng is a legitimate Wing Chun practitioner who understands the art form. Chow Yun Fat didn't come from a kung fu school, but his gun-fu in John Woo films is poetry in motion because he committed to the physical language of the character. Chang Chen in The Assassin and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon 2 brought a quiet, lethal grace that no traffic idol could fake. Takeshi Kaneshiro in House of Flying Daggers and Wuxia proved that screen presence plus rigorous preparation equals unforgettable action.
These actors whether martial artists or not share one thing: craft over glamour, discipline over traffic rankings.
China should be making feature films INCUDING DRAMA with this caliber of performer. DRAMAS with philosophy. DRAMAS where action serves story, not an actor's /ACTRESS FACE feed. NOT IDOL WORSHIPPERS FANS (These are the kind of fans who mistake glamour, good looks, and ‘false dreams’- all this rubbish for ‘acting.’). Films where the sweat is real and the bruises are earned.
Enough of the foundation-wearing generals. Enough of web dramas built on face cards and shipping bait.
Bring back the old standard. Or better yet: build a new one on the same foundation of skill, suffering, and soul.