Plot summary (story synopsis): China, the closing decades of the 19th century. Wong Fei Hung (Eddie Peng) infiltrates the Black Tiger gang, which is led by the villainous Lei Gong (Sammo Hung). Wong Fei Hung's plan is to destroy the gang from within, by stealing their silver and killing not just Lei Gong, but his lieutenants - his three adopted sons - as well.
He earns his place as Lei Gong's fourth adopted son by killing the leader of the rival Northern Sea gang. From this privileged insider position, he learns the location of the keys to Lei Gong's silver vault.
With the help of childhood friend Fiery (Jing Boran), love-interest Chun (Wang Luodan) and courtesan Orchid (Angelababy), he schemes to steal the silver, as well as free 300 slave laborers that Lei Gong has kidnapped and kept hidden.
***
Rise of the Legend is an entertaining kung fu movie, combining the visuals of Wong Kar Wai's the Grandmaster, with above-average fight choreography (not quite up to the standard of Donnie Yen's Ip Man, but close). All wrapped up in an engaging Robin Hood tale.
Comparisons will be made with Jet Li's Once Upon a Time in China, which also tells the story of the legendary Wong Fei Hung, but that's not what I'm going to do. I'll be honest and admit that I don't remember much about Once Upon a Time in China except that it had some goofball humor and that Wong Fei Hung's plucky mother stole the show. (I'm also not a big Jet Li fan - his smugness gets on my nerves.)
Eddie Peng? He does fine, despite not having Jet Li's martial arts background. He fights convincingly and plays off well against Sammo Hung. There's also some chemistry between him and the elegant Wang Luodan.
The visuals are gorgeous. From the authentic-looking wooden buildings and interiors, to the beautiful lighting by cinematographer Ng Man Ching, Rise of the Legend looks good. Especially outstanding is the high-contrast lighting in the one-man-against-hundreds fight in the first act of the movie, when Wong Fei Hung has to fight his way through a Northern Sea horde after killing their leader.
The plot from scriptwriter To Chi Long is surprisingly complex for a kung fu movie, and manages to hold your interest throughout the movie. So this isn't your standard kung fu movie, with a thin story serving mainly as an excuse to serve up some fight scenes.
The fight choreography is a mixed bag, but mainly good. You do see some Hung Gar moves at the start (the Southern kung fu style used by the real life Wong Fei Hung) - which is not something you often see in kung fu movies. Look out for the claw hand (instead of clenched fist) - used for grabbing wrists, open-palm strikes and take-downs. Stances are wide (compared to say, Wing Chun, which shares some moves with Hung Gar), trading off mobility for stability.
There's also the famous double punch, probably Hung Gar's signature move - one high, one low, delivered to the side (the far arm arches over the fighter's head and he bends over sideways, making this look like an ornamental move, but it's a legitimate combat technique).
Unfortunately, most of this is seen at the start of the movie. Hung Gar techniques are slowly bled from the fight choreography until the final showdown between Wong Fei Hong and Lei Gong, regresses to the bland punch/block/kick of your standard kung fu movie. No combination moves, blocks from the outside of a punch, off-axis attacks, arm locks, wrist grabs.
So, points for having some real Hung Gar, but not top marks because this is not consistently applied. (Donnie Yen's first Ip Man movie was more purely Wing Chun but faltered a bit too. It's still the best kung fu movie in years, however the second movie stinks.)
The movie's title implies that the filmmakers intend to make a sequel. I hope they do.
2014-11-28
2014-11-13
Sayang Disayang (2014)
Plot summary (story synopsis): Murni (Aidli Mosbit) is from a small village in Aceh, Indonesia. She works in Singapore as a domestic helper, looking after recently crippled widower Harun (veteran Malaysian actor Rahim Razali).
No matter how hard she tries, she is unable to satisfy the grouchy Harun. He constantly complains about her cooking, especially her sambal belacan - chili fried with shrimp paste and lime.
Will Murni be able to please Harun? And why is he so particular about sambal belacan anyway?
***
Sayang Disayang (love is loved) is Singapore's entry for the 2015 Academy Awards Foreign Language Film. It's not going to win. It's main shortcoming is that it's a short film stretched out to feature length. There isn't enough material for its long run time.
The scenes of Murni pounding chili, and carp swimming, quickly become repetitive. The beautiful gamelan and flute music becomes wearying too.
Just as bad is the lack of clarity in the proceedings. Sayang Disayang does try to use show-don't-tell storytelling technique. However for most of the movie it's not clear that Murni is even trying to modify her cooking to please Harun. We see her cheerfully singing and ignoring Harun's rants, making it look like she doesn't care what he thinks about her cooking.
Her cooking technique looks the same too (at least to me). It's only towards the end of the movie that we notice her doing something different - using a food blender instead of mortar and pestle.
It's not just the shifts in her cooking. Even the changes in her relationship with Harun are not clearly developed. They seem abrupt and unconvincing.
The few side stories are similarly unpolished. Harun's visit to his mosque seems out of place, as are the hints of politicking within the mosque's leadership (I didn't get this part, writer/director Sanif Olek had to explain it to me when I asked him about it after a screening).
Murni imagining her mother talking to her also seems out of place. It is confusingly shown. We don't know who she is at first, and it's not clear if Murni is imagining her or not.
This is Sanif Olek's first feature film (he works as director for TV productions). He shows promise but has a way to go. I don't think the Oscar selection will go to his head. He seems like a sensible, humble guy. I actually feel bad, writing such a negative review. He's a very friendly guy - I met him once at a library talk and once at a Sayang Disayang screening.
No matter how hard she tries, she is unable to satisfy the grouchy Harun. He constantly complains about her cooking, especially her sambal belacan - chili fried with shrimp paste and lime.
Will Murni be able to please Harun? And why is he so particular about sambal belacan anyway?
***
Sayang Disayang (love is loved) is Singapore's entry for the 2015 Academy Awards Foreign Language Film. It's not going to win. It's main shortcoming is that it's a short film stretched out to feature length. There isn't enough material for its long run time.
The scenes of Murni pounding chili, and carp swimming, quickly become repetitive. The beautiful gamelan and flute music becomes wearying too.
Just as bad is the lack of clarity in the proceedings. Sayang Disayang does try to use show-don't-tell storytelling technique. However for most of the movie it's not clear that Murni is even trying to modify her cooking to please Harun. We see her cheerfully singing and ignoring Harun's rants, making it look like she doesn't care what he thinks about her cooking.
Her cooking technique looks the same too (at least to me). It's only towards the end of the movie that we notice her doing something different - using a food blender instead of mortar and pestle.
It's not just the shifts in her cooking. Even the changes in her relationship with Harun are not clearly developed. They seem abrupt and unconvincing.
The few side stories are similarly unpolished. Harun's visit to his mosque seems out of place, as are the hints of politicking within the mosque's leadership (I didn't get this part, writer/director Sanif Olek had to explain it to me when I asked him about it after a screening).
Murni imagining her mother talking to her also seems out of place. It is confusingly shown. We don't know who she is at first, and it's not clear if Murni is imagining her or not.
This is Sanif Olek's first feature film (he works as director for TV productions). He shows promise but has a way to go. I don't think the Oscar selection will go to his head. He seems like a sensible, humble guy. I actually feel bad, writing such a negative review. He's a very friendly guy - I met him once at a library talk and once at a Sayang Disayang screening.
2014-11-11
Kung Fu Jungle (2014)
Plot summary (story synopsis): Hahou Mo (Donnie Yen) is in jail for manslaughter, with 2 years of a 5 year sentence left to serve. He had accidentally killed another kung fu expert in a duel, while trying to find out who was the better fighter.
Fung Yu-Sau (Baoqiang Wang) now seems to be following in his footsteps, fighting kung fu masters, but deliberately killing them. Hahou Mo knows that he can stop Fung Yu-Sau and makes a deal with lead detective Luk Yuen-Sum (Charlie Yeung, who is a woman despite her name). Luk Yuen-Sum reluctantly agrees to release Hahou Mo from prison into her custody.
Hahou Mo has figured out Fung Yu-Sau's plan. He is following a kung fu poem and targeting kung fu masters in boxing, kicking, grappling (Chin Na), weapons, and internal styles - in that order.
Hahou Mo leads detective Luk Yuen-Sum to Fung Yu-Sau's next target, but then runs away to Foshan to protect his sweetheart Sinn Ying (Bing Bai) from Fung Yu-Sau.
***
Kung Fu Jungle is an above-average kung fu movie. The fights are decent and not too long. The story and characters are engaging. Locations are interesting - old-world Foshan, a river village.
The idea of Fung Yu-Sau as a master of different styles of kung fu, fighting different masters in their own style, is a good one. It allows the movie to showcase different styles without resorting to the old cliche of a martial arts tournament.
Unfortunately for kung fu fans (who are obviously the movie's target audience) not enough is made of the opportunity. The first few fights come off nicely enough. They aren't generic fights. They actually follow the declared styles - boxing, kicking, grappling, weapons.
But instead of building towards a climax with the showdown between Fung Yu-Sau and Hahou Mo, the fight between the two, degenerates into the generic punch, kick, block fighting seen in too many Hong Kong movies.
According to the poem sequence Fung Yu-Sau was following, Hahou Mo should have been a master of an internal style (Hsing Yi, Ba Gua or Tai Chi). However all the clues point to him being a Wing Chun guy. Foshan was an early center of Wing Chun, and is where Hahou Mo learned his kung fu.
Hahou Mo also fights with a pole, one of the classic Wing Chun weapons (six and a half point pole). Yet, his kung fu style is not Wing Chun (and not an internal style either). Not just his unarmed technique. His pole technique is all wrong. He swings it like a club instead of thrusting it like a spear.
So it's a head-scratcher. Why imply that Hahou Mo is a Wing Chun guy, then not have him use Wing Chun?
Another wasted opportunity is Fung Yu-Sau's belief that "kung fu is for killing". It could have been developed as a comparison between "fighting" kung fu and "tournament" kung fu. Instead, good guy Hahou Mo repudiates the idea entirely. Which doesn't ring true, considering kung fu's main function.
The acting is passable. You don't watch kung fu movies for their acting. Donnie Yen's acting range is limited to one "concerned face" and that's about it. The police-investigation plot is believable and is enough to drive the story from one fight to another, which is all that matters.
Kung Fu Jungle is a good kung fu movie. It could have been great.
Fung Yu-Sau (Baoqiang Wang) now seems to be following in his footsteps, fighting kung fu masters, but deliberately killing them. Hahou Mo knows that he can stop Fung Yu-Sau and makes a deal with lead detective Luk Yuen-Sum (Charlie Yeung, who is a woman despite her name). Luk Yuen-Sum reluctantly agrees to release Hahou Mo from prison into her custody.
Hahou Mo has figured out Fung Yu-Sau's plan. He is following a kung fu poem and targeting kung fu masters in boxing, kicking, grappling (Chin Na), weapons, and internal styles - in that order.
Hahou Mo leads detective Luk Yuen-Sum to Fung Yu-Sau's next target, but then runs away to Foshan to protect his sweetheart Sinn Ying (Bing Bai) from Fung Yu-Sau.
***
Kung Fu Jungle is an above-average kung fu movie. The fights are decent and not too long. The story and characters are engaging. Locations are interesting - old-world Foshan, a river village.
The idea of Fung Yu-Sau as a master of different styles of kung fu, fighting different masters in their own style, is a good one. It allows the movie to showcase different styles without resorting to the old cliche of a martial arts tournament.
Unfortunately for kung fu fans (who are obviously the movie's target audience) not enough is made of the opportunity. The first few fights come off nicely enough. They aren't generic fights. They actually follow the declared styles - boxing, kicking, grappling, weapons.
But instead of building towards a climax with the showdown between Fung Yu-Sau and Hahou Mo, the fight between the two, degenerates into the generic punch, kick, block fighting seen in too many Hong Kong movies.
According to the poem sequence Fung Yu-Sau was following, Hahou Mo should have been a master of an internal style (Hsing Yi, Ba Gua or Tai Chi). However all the clues point to him being a Wing Chun guy. Foshan was an early center of Wing Chun, and is where Hahou Mo learned his kung fu.
Hahou Mo also fights with a pole, one of the classic Wing Chun weapons (six and a half point pole). Yet, his kung fu style is not Wing Chun (and not an internal style either). Not just his unarmed technique. His pole technique is all wrong. He swings it like a club instead of thrusting it like a spear.
So it's a head-scratcher. Why imply that Hahou Mo is a Wing Chun guy, then not have him use Wing Chun?
Another wasted opportunity is Fung Yu-Sau's belief that "kung fu is for killing". It could have been developed as a comparison between "fighting" kung fu and "tournament" kung fu. Instead, good guy Hahou Mo repudiates the idea entirely. Which doesn't ring true, considering kung fu's main function.
The acting is passable. You don't watch kung fu movies for their acting. Donnie Yen's acting range is limited to one "concerned face" and that's about it. The police-investigation plot is believable and is enough to drive the story from one fight to another, which is all that matters.
Kung Fu Jungle is a good kung fu movie. It could have been great.
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