Wednesday, October 5, 2011
WU XIA: Smart, Fresh, Stylistic Martial Arts Spectacle
# The main plot about an assassin who’s in hiding but then needs to deal with unraveling identity and the dark past somehow bear some resemblances to last year John Woo produced “Reign of Assassins”.
# The good thing about Peter Chan direction, who also gave us the award winning “The Warlords” a few years ago, is he never sacrifices story for spectacle. “Wu Xia” itself is a much more of a layered drama than a Kung Fu epic as the title suggested, but it has a solid enough premise, excellent performances and outstanding production values to make up for that.
# The remote and mountainous part of China's southwest Yunnan province gives the fabulous and amazing set of sceneries to the picture.
# The dissection of the fight scenes is highly innovative and was shown in a stylistic way. It takes place in Kaneshiro's mind and utilizes science to elucidate how every tiny inflection, every last millisecond, is very important in martial arts.
# Though there are only some action scenes in the film but they are very breathtaking and powerful enough to keep you at the edge of your seat.
# Played, designed and choreographed by Donnie Yen himself, the spectacular fight scenes are certainly some of the best he has created so far.
# The camera records the battle scenes in mid shot and wide shot, that not only gave us the action sequences that we can understand but also provides a clear physical context and close ups of specific fight choreography.
# Interesting mythology in the latter half of the story splendidly pays off the mystery that the film opens with.
# Donnie Yen once again proved that he’s not only good in Kung Fu but also extremely talented to deliver a fantastic acting performance. Carries most of the weight of the film on his shoulders, he’s undeniably the driving force in “Wu Xia”.
# Kaneshiro as Detective Xu, something of an early era C.S.I. investigator, also offers a riveting performance as an overly inquisitive human being. He’s even able to manage a strange accent that sounded funny but consistent throughout the movie.
# Tang Wei doesn't have a great deal to do as the wife of Yen's character but she does it with grace and the most important thing is she just has this great ability to stir the emotion and dramatic scenes with only her face expressions and body languages.
# Shaw Brothers-era martial arts legend, Jimmy Wang, maybe return to the big screen fatter than ever but he surely not losing any single bit of his charisma and provocative acting. Appeared bald and convincingly scary, Wang gave an incredible performance as a cold blooded evil character who had no qualm to kill though the target is his own son.
# Despite the fact that she’s only come out in a short appearance, Hong Kong veteran Kara Hui shows that she still have the solid credibility as one of the best martial arts actresses today.
# Audience members with a greater respect for the Chinese acupuncture may find even more value in the film as they play a pivotal role in Xu's personal life and investigation.
# There are moments when the drama runs a little too stretched, which leaving for a few tedious spots all the way through.
# There is also an uncanny sense of wittiness that actually doesn't quite fit with some of the more suggestive, dark undertones of the narrative.
# The ending scenes are very dramatic, very thrilling. However, there is a conclusion that can be quite a disappointment to some, but for several audiences who are really believe in karma, it makes enough sense.
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