This is
another instance where, although I can objectively recognize this film isn’t
what you’d call good, I kind of like it anyway.
It really grew on me as I was watching it, and even while I laughed at
the hokiness and insanity, I did genuinely enjoy it.
Ko, Sing,
and Yip Cheung have been one another’s unofficial family since childhood, where
they banded together as street kids to fight for food and shelter. Now grown up, matters between are more
complicated than when they were kids.
Not only are they all martial artists, enlisted by Ko to help thwart a
revolutionary group from taking over, but love of the unrequited variety has
sprouted in more than one place, and as they fight with swords on the streets
and in the forests, they try to reconcile how they all fit together now.
This is
my first sort of “non-fancy” wuxia
film. I entered the genre via
beautifully-designed prestige pieces like Hero
and Ashes of Time, as well as big
commercial films like Crouching Tiger,
Hidden Dragon. But this is the first
that, I think, is just a regular, more run-of-the-mill wuxia film, maybe even tending toward the B-movie side of
things. I quickly realized that the
effects work in the film were done pretty cheaply, but that matters a lot less
when you can lean on the human special effects of talented martial artists – in
particular, Michelle Yeoh and Donnie Yen as Ko and Yip Cheung light up the
screen when they get going (Tony Leung Chiu-wai, playing Sing, obviously
doesn’t have the training that either of them do, but acquits himself well to
my still relatively-novice eye.) Rather
than the highly-artistic swordplay of, say, Hero,
this is down-and-dirty wuxia with
hardcore wire work and insane
violence. Seriously, insane.
We’re talking kicking guys’ heads clean off and one person busting
straight through another’s torso. It
gives off kind of a grindhouse vibe in places, bold and bloody and
sensationalist.
The story
is a bit of a cross between an action film and a romance drama. I’ll admit to being a sucker for the trio’s
backstory – as soon as I saw the flashbacks of them meeting as kids, I was
sold. It’s an intense web of
interpersonal relationships between these people who’ve only ever had each
other to lean on, and as they struggle with evolving feelings, new revelations,
and the introduction of new people (interlopers?) into their circle, all the
while just trying to keep each other alive, they find out what their bonds are
really made of.
Leung’s
Sing is a fun character with quite a bit going on. In addition to all his drama with the other two
and the ongoing plot to stop the rival group (at Ko’s behest, he works to
infiltrate them,) he’s also attempting to start a new life with Butterfly, the
lover he’s head-over-heels for. Since
she has bad family history associated with martial arts, Sing leads a double
life, pretending to be a merchant and keeping his dangerous activities from
her. Unfortunately, the deeper he gets
drawn into the plan, the more he brings that danger to his doorstep.
There are
a lot of angles to play here. Sing gets
a lot of offbeat humor (my favorite being when, unable to catch any fish the
usual way, he has to “cheat” and use wire fu,) along with plenty of action and
some nice dramatic scenes. He obviously
has it bad for Butterfly but tends to get stuck between her and Ko, who don’t
get along, and he tries to figure out how far his loyalties extend now that he
has three people to care about instead of just two. Leung flits easily from self-possessed
warrior to lovesick puppy to goofball to fierce friend, and he plays especially
well off of Yeoh – the relationship between Sing and Ko is probably my favorite
part of the film.
Recommend?
In
General
– I don’t know. I came away with the
impression that, even though it feels like it shouldn’t quite work, it kind of
does, but I’m not sure if I’d necessarily recommend it. If you don’t mind stuff with an audacious
B-movie vibe, you might have fun.
Tony
Leung Chiu-wai
– Maybe. While the movie is more uneven,
I was hugely entertained by Sing. It’s a
versatile role and Leung plays each aspect of it well, and it’s a treat to
watch him share the screen with Yeoh.
Warnings
Some
suggestiveness, drinking, and some truly insane violence.
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