Plot summary (story synopsis): China, 1914. The Chinese army has withdrawn from Pucheng village to chase after troublesome warlord Cao Ying, leaving the town's sheriff Yang Kenan (Lau Ching Wan) and his men to defend the village. The warlord's murderous sociopathic son Cao Shaolun (Louis Koo) rides alone into town and kills a few people for fun. Sheriff Yang arrests him and after a quick trial, Shaulun is scheduled for execution the next day. However the warlord's colonel, Zhang Yi (Wu Jing), appears and warns that the entire town will be slaughtered if they harm Shaolun. Observing all this and trying to stay neutral, is wandering martial arts expert Ma Feng (Eddie Peng).
***
Call of Heroes is a Chinese cowboy movie. It's a mix of High Noon (principled sheriff betrayed by the cowardly town folk that he protects) and Shane (gun slinging reluctant-hero drifter rides into town).
There is some melodrama, but also some surprisingly effective drama and character development. Performances by the leads are good, with Eddie Peng coming across effectively like a laconic Hugh Jackman. Louis Koo is fun to watch as the manipulative batshit crazy Shaolun. Lau Ching Wan is believable as the brave and honorable sheriff. Most impressive of all is Wu Jing as the confident colonel Zhang Yi. That guy has presence.
Fight choreography by Sammo Hung is good. Stylish but realistic. The only wire work seems to be when people are kicked and go flying. The fight on a small hill of wine casks is spectacular and a good example of acrobatic kung fu.
The village set is lavish and looks real. The $32 million budget is small by Hollywood standards but this is no small movie. It's no blockbuster but it's no budget indie either.
There are some false notes. The subplot about the mercenaries seems superfluous, and some plot points aren't believable. Why don't the villagers just run away?
Ultimately, it's an entertaining but forgettable movie. We've seen it before. It doesn't break any new ground or have any original ideas. It should do good box office but I doubt anyone will remember it in twenty years. It's no Chinese Ghost Story (1987) or Swordsman (1990).
Showing posts with label period. Show all posts
Showing posts with label period. Show all posts
2016-08-23
2015-09-14
The Assassin (2015)
Plot summary (story synopsis): It is China during the Tang Dynasty. Young assassin Yinniang (Shu Qi) doesn't have the heart to kill a target in front of his son. To teach her a lesson, she is sent back to her home province of Weibo to assassinate her cousin Tian Ji'an (Chen Chang) who is now the Lord of Weibo.
Tian Ji-an's court is already in turmoil. There is disagreement over how to handle their relationship with the distant Tang Dynasty. There is also some political intrigue within the court.
***
The Assassin is an arthouse movie. Don't expect anything like Hero or House of Flying Daggers. It won the Best Director prize at Cannes for director Hsiao-hsien Hou.
There's lots of show-don't-tell, so the pace will be slow for some audiences. Fights are few, fast, short, and realistic. Shu Qi isn't made into some kind of superhero, just a skilled fighter.
There are long takes and few close-ups. Many scenes are shot with a single wide-angle take. This is Kurosawa style.
Standard editing advice is to enter the scene late and get out early. Keep scenes short, don't bore the audience. The Assassin does the opposite. Combined with the wide-angle long takes, this gives an effective voyeuristic feel to the movie. You feel like an observer watching from a distance, not some omniscient god floating everywhere like in conventional movies with their close-ups, quick cuts and dolly moves.
The director's voyeuristic intention is confirmed in some indoor scenes. The camera is positioned behind thin veil-like curtains, so the audience feels like they are hiding from the people in the scene.
So this movie is not for everyone. There are reports of some audience members walking out during the screenings at Cannes and at the Toronto International Film Festival.
While the unconventional camerawork is effective to a certain extent, it's also distracting. We are used to today's camerawork and done well, it is invisible to the audience. The Assassin's minimalist camerawork calls attention to itself, throwing the audience out of the movie.
There is high contrast in some scenes - bits of sunlight in a dim interior. This would be considered a mistake in an amateur movie.
Another quirk: the movie is shot in 4:3 aspect ratio, the old PAL and NTSC analog TV format. The decision to not use 16:9, 2.4:1 or some other widescreen format is especially perverse considering the gorgeous scenery in some of the shots.
Perennially youthful Shu Qi plays the twenty-something Yinniang well. But we don't see much of Shu Qi. She's on screen maybe 25% to 50% of the time, and usually not in close-up.
The plot is interesting enough but there are too many characters and the various subplots are difficult to follow (who is the lady who tried to hide her pregnancy? I had to look her up after I watched the movie). The thing with the lady in the gold mask? Very Pink Pantherish - Clouseau versus Cato.
The Assassin gets an A for effort but overall it could have been better.
Tian Ji-an's court is already in turmoil. There is disagreement over how to handle their relationship with the distant Tang Dynasty. There is also some political intrigue within the court.
***
The Assassin is an arthouse movie. Don't expect anything like Hero or House of Flying Daggers. It won the Best Director prize at Cannes for director Hsiao-hsien Hou.
There's lots of show-don't-tell, so the pace will be slow for some audiences. Fights are few, fast, short, and realistic. Shu Qi isn't made into some kind of superhero, just a skilled fighter.
There are long takes and few close-ups. Many scenes are shot with a single wide-angle take. This is Kurosawa style.
Standard editing advice is to enter the scene late and get out early. Keep scenes short, don't bore the audience. The Assassin does the opposite. Combined with the wide-angle long takes, this gives an effective voyeuristic feel to the movie. You feel like an observer watching from a distance, not some omniscient god floating everywhere like in conventional movies with their close-ups, quick cuts and dolly moves.
The director's voyeuristic intention is confirmed in some indoor scenes. The camera is positioned behind thin veil-like curtains, so the audience feels like they are hiding from the people in the scene.
So this movie is not for everyone. There are reports of some audience members walking out during the screenings at Cannes and at the Toronto International Film Festival.
While the unconventional camerawork is effective to a certain extent, it's also distracting. We are used to today's camerawork and done well, it is invisible to the audience. The Assassin's minimalist camerawork calls attention to itself, throwing the audience out of the movie.
There is high contrast in some scenes - bits of sunlight in a dim interior. This would be considered a mistake in an amateur movie.
Another quirk: the movie is shot in 4:3 aspect ratio, the old PAL and NTSC analog TV format. The decision to not use 16:9, 2.4:1 or some other widescreen format is especially perverse considering the gorgeous scenery in some of the shots.
Perennially youthful Shu Qi plays the twenty-something Yinniang well. But we don't see much of Shu Qi. She's on screen maybe 25% to 50% of the time, and usually not in close-up.
The plot is interesting enough but there are too many characters and the various subplots are difficult to follow (who is the lady who tried to hide her pregnancy? I had to look her up after I watched the movie). The thing with the lady in the gold mask? Very Pink Pantherish - Clouseau versus Cato.
The Assassin gets an A for effort but overall it could have been better.
2015-07-20
Monk Comes Down the Mountain (2015)
Plot summary (story synopsis): It is early 20th century China. A time when primitive motorcars and guns coexist with kung fu. Apprentice monk He Anxia's (Baoqiang Wang) mountain monastery falls upon hard times and is unable to support so many monks. He is asked to leave and fend for himself in the big city.
Luckily for him, the sheltered and innocent Anxia ends up as assistant to kindly doctor Cui Daoning (Fan Wei). However his happy new life doesn't last long. The doctor's wife Yuzhen (Lin Chiling) is having an affair with his brother Daorong (Vanness Wu). Daorong poisons the doctor and Anxia kills the two illicit lovers to avenge his master.
He then apprentices himself to kung fu master Zhou Xiyu (Aaron Kwok) who is an enemy of the evil father-son team of Peng Qianwu (Yuen Wah) and Qizi (Jaycee Chan, Jackie's son). Qizi shoots and kills Zhou. Anxia now finds himself paired with Zhou's old friend Boss Zha (Chang Chen) against Peng, Qizi and a mobster (Lam Suet).
***
I'll have to admit that I haven't seen many Chen Kaige movies, but Monk seems rather crude story-wise for a director of his reputation.
Monk is an odd kung fu movie that against all odds, ends up working. It seems haphazard at first, Anxia getting a new master every 30 minutes. But the characters and individual stories work, probably thanks to Xu Haofeng’s source novel. At the end of the movie it's all nicely summed up - Anxia needed to experience human follies in order to become a better monk. So it's not about the plot, but the richness and bitterness of human experience.
The beautiful period sets (especially the doctor's house) and generally good acting help to support the movie.
Baoqiang's Anxia is an unrelatable simpleton with an annoying laugh. But Aaron Kwok and Chang Chen are convincing and sympathetic as serious, mature kung fu masters. Aaron Kwok is detached and enlightened, Chang Chen is passionate and vengeful. As a bonus, Lin Chiling looks absolutely stunning as the doctor's wife. Yuen Wah and Jaycee Chan are deliciously hateful.
Cinematography by Geoffrey Simpson is unremarkable. The fights are many, as is the wirework for the flying kung fu. I'm not a fan of wire fu but in certain cases such as in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon it works as a Fantasy element. It kind of works here. The problem with flying kung fu is that it is so removed from real fighting, that it's closer to dancing than martial arts. So it's all fluff, with no meaning or reality behind each move, nothing you can sink your teeth into.
Speaking of Crouching Tiger, Monk seems to be consciously trying to create a similar epic mythology. It fails because come on, Crouching Tiger is a unique one-off masterpiece. Monk succeeds as decent entertainment, and that's not too shabby.
Luckily for him, the sheltered and innocent Anxia ends up as assistant to kindly doctor Cui Daoning (Fan Wei). However his happy new life doesn't last long. The doctor's wife Yuzhen (Lin Chiling) is having an affair with his brother Daorong (Vanness Wu). Daorong poisons the doctor and Anxia kills the two illicit lovers to avenge his master.
He then apprentices himself to kung fu master Zhou Xiyu (Aaron Kwok) who is an enemy of the evil father-son team of Peng Qianwu (Yuen Wah) and Qizi (Jaycee Chan, Jackie's son). Qizi shoots and kills Zhou. Anxia now finds himself paired with Zhou's old friend Boss Zha (Chang Chen) against Peng, Qizi and a mobster (Lam Suet).
***
I'll have to admit that I haven't seen many Chen Kaige movies, but Monk seems rather crude story-wise for a director of his reputation.
Monk is an odd kung fu movie that against all odds, ends up working. It seems haphazard at first, Anxia getting a new master every 30 minutes. But the characters and individual stories work, probably thanks to Xu Haofeng’s source novel. At the end of the movie it's all nicely summed up - Anxia needed to experience human follies in order to become a better monk. So it's not about the plot, but the richness and bitterness of human experience.
The beautiful period sets (especially the doctor's house) and generally good acting help to support the movie.
Baoqiang's Anxia is an unrelatable simpleton with an annoying laugh. But Aaron Kwok and Chang Chen are convincing and sympathetic as serious, mature kung fu masters. Aaron Kwok is detached and enlightened, Chang Chen is passionate and vengeful. As a bonus, Lin Chiling looks absolutely stunning as the doctor's wife. Yuen Wah and Jaycee Chan are deliciously hateful.
Cinematography by Geoffrey Simpson is unremarkable. The fights are many, as is the wirework for the flying kung fu. I'm not a fan of wire fu but in certain cases such as in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon it works as a Fantasy element. It kind of works here. The problem with flying kung fu is that it is so removed from real fighting, that it's closer to dancing than martial arts. So it's all fluff, with no meaning or reality behind each move, nothing you can sink your teeth into.
Speaking of Crouching Tiger, Monk seems to be consciously trying to create a similar epic mythology. It fails because come on, Crouching Tiger is a unique one-off masterpiece. Monk succeeds as decent entertainment, and that's not too shabby.
2015-02-18
Dragon Blade (2015)
He and his men are framed for gold smuggling and are banished to hard labor, repairing the remote Wild Geese Gate walled city in the middle of the desert. Wild Geese Gate is attacked by a large detachment of renegade Roman legionnaires, led by Lucius (John Cusack). The Romans are low on food and water and need medicine for their sickly young prince Publius (Jozef Waite).
Lucius attempts to take Wild Geese Gate by force but a huge sandstorm interrupts his duel with Huo An. Huo An offers Lucius and his men a truce and shelter inside Wild Geese Gate. The next day brings new orders - Wild Geese Gate is to be finished within 15 days or else everyone will be executed.
Lucius helps them meet the deadline with his knowledge of Roman engineering, while Huo An binds the prison hard-labor gang from 36 nations, into a single motivated team.
Their victory is short-lived because Publius's evil brother Tiberius (Adrien Brody) catches up with Lucius, bringing 100 thousand Roman soldiers with him.
***
Dragon Blade is darker than the normal Jackie Chan movie (closer to Police Story than Who Am I?) but has his normal multiracial muhibbah shtick (I'd swear he was brought up in Malaysia).
Jackie Chan's trademark comedic kung fu and acrobatics are minimal, mostly seen in the fight at the start of the movie with Cold Moon (Peng Lin) where he accidentally grabs her bewbs.
What you do get lots of is goodie-two-shoes Huo An rallying the troops, turning foes into friends, and sacrificing himself for the sake of others. Which doesn't have to be too bad, only Jackie Chan pours on his normal treacly moralizing on top of it.
So yeah, standard Hong Kong melodrama, Jackie version.
The two Hollywood stars are pulled down to Jackie Chan's level. John Cusack gets the corniest lines and almost manages to sell them. Adrien Brody gets better lines but turns in an awful performance. It's not something you would expect from an Academy Award winner.
On the positive side of the ledger, Jackie Chan swordfights John Cusack and Adrien Brody, but not at the same time. Okay, you've seen Adrien Brody fight Predators but have you seen Cusack do any hand-to-hand?
Come on, just for the curiosity factor, you know you want to watch this one. Decades from now, you will be able to tell your grandchildren - I was there when Adrien Brody and John Cusack destroyed their career.
2014-11-28
Rise of the Legend (2014)
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.
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.
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