A
low-rent wuxia yarn that reminds me a bit of Butterfly Sword: I can
recognize that it’s not all that great, but I still found it enjoyable. Tony Leung Chiu-wai is fun and the action is
exciting. Just 1) don’t think too hard
about the plot and 2) try to ignore the ridiculous, titular magic crane.
Masters
and students from all the surrounding martial arts schools are coming together
for a congregation, the least of which is the Tien Chong School, consisting of
a single master (Yat Yeung-Tze) and a single student (Ma Kwun-Mo.) As the two struggle to carve out a tiny bit
of space for themselves at the congregation, all manner of hell breaks
loose. Let’s see – there’s a mystical
martial arts princess who rides a giant crane through the sky (Pak Wan-Fai,)
some kind of rivalry involving deadly musical instruments, lots of fighting
between the various martial arts schools, tons of people getting poisoned, and
a turtle gall/spleen with healing properties.
I’ll
admit that my attention started wandering at points, but to be fair, I’m not
sure if greater focus would’ve helped me make more sense of the plot. I’m reminded of Chow Mo-wan writing martial
arts serials in both In the Mood for Love
and 2046, constanting confusing his
writing partner by throwing in heretofore-unmentioned characters at random and
bringing characters back from the dead without explanation. It feels kind of like that. Weirdly, though, it sort of works. It fits the kung-fu grindhouse vibe of the
film, all crazy action, ridiculous streams of spurting blood, and a truly
horrific-looking fake giant crane (it’s hilariously bad – like, “it makes
classic Who monsters look
sophisticated” bad.)
But
honestly, it is pretty fun. It’s the
sort of movie where I just strapped in and went along for the ride. Sometimes, totally-random hodgepodge plots
annoy me, but every now and then, a film is able to get by on its charm,
happily throwing half a dozen story elements to the wall in between audacious
wire fu.
Leung,
playing in-over-his-head martial arts student Ma Kwun-Mo, adds a lot to that
sense of fun. He acts as the bridge
between the more grounded world of the conflicts among the martial arts schools
and the more mystical world of giant cranes and palliative turtle organs. He’s pretty literally swept off his feet by
Pak Wan-Fai early on and then spends most of the film trying to help her while
keeping one foot in the situation back at the congregation, so as not to leave
his master hanging.
I enjoy
Kwun-Mo. Throughout much of the
proceedings, he’s pretty overwhelmed and more than a little confused, but he
keeps at it with the determination of a man who feels honor-bound to a
beautiful woman with a magical crane who saved his life.
Recommend?
In
General
– A cautious maybe. If you’re in the
right mood for it – wanting some greasy drivethrough kung-fu fare – you’ll
probably have a good time.
Tony
Leung Chiu-wai
– Again, maybe. Nothing too spectacular
in the acting or the character, but Leung is likable and entertaining as
Kwun-Mo.
Warnings
Tons of
violence (including attempted rape,) sexual content, and drinking.
No comments:
Post a Comment