Chen Zhen
08-08-2006, 12:54 AM
just watched this movie this afternoon. big shoutout to Yakuza954 for the tip. i walked in with relatively low expectations, and i was not surprised to find out that the film was pretty much EXACTLY what i expected. allow me to elaborate.
this movie has its strengths, and its weaknesses...but i'll talk about the strengths for now. the cinematography and art direction for this film is generally very good...they went all out with the sets and locations...film is definetely pretty to look at (we're not talkin about Hero, but u kno what i mean lol). Wilson Yip did a fine job directing the movie, and there are a some good cinematic touches in there, and some cool looking shots. however, its unfortnate the same cannot be sed for the plot. it wasnt as horrible as the reviews ive read alluded to, but lets just say i was expecting more in the way of story. the film ends up playing like an old school kung fu movie at its core..which i guess isnt a bad thing depending on what u look for in movies. however, i dont kno if i should blame the writers, or the original comic book, since i havent read it b4. so i suppose i'll let that slide. the acting was very forgettable...altho i gotta say that my face lit up seeing Chen Kuan Tai in there!! i was hoping he would monkey-kung fu somebody's ass haha. he plays a crime boss. donnie yen felt very uncomfortable in his role and out of place in many ways...i mean, im glad he was there since he was one of the only real martial artists in the movie, but he was pretty unconvincing in his role if u ask me. the forgettable dialogue didnt help either. many of the characters were very underdeveloped, and the romantic subplots didnt quite hit. yuen wah's character was really the only one that i felt for. overall, i cant say the plot/dialogue/acting is anything higher than subpar.
now lets get to the action, cuz i know thats what most ppl really care about. Donnie Yen went on record to say that the action is "groundbreaking", and its this and its that....meh. one thing that ive always b*tched about is not Donnie's choreography, but how he shoots his action. Twins Effect was the first donnie choreography i saw that actually impressed me...to this day i still think its some of his best choreography work. expectations were insanely high after SPL, which definetely featured donnies best action. didnt like how some of it was shot, but it was good enuff for me. the action took a step back to me at least. thats not to say the action was bad, it wasnt. donnie went back to his old tricks with the ridiculous close ups (which hinder lots of the action) and flailing arms for many of the fights. because of some of the sketchy camerawork, some of the action was hard to follow. but there were still many great moments in there. Nick Tse and his double has a great fight in the beginning of the movie which is straight kicking. well shot too. next fight features a huge melee battle with donnie and shawn yue, which was ok at best. there was a really cool fight with yuen wah (he still moves great for his age) and the villain, which looked pretty good overall. donnie takes on some dudes with a staff which is probably the best fight in the movie. wide shots and good choreography & speed. on a side note, the villain had some great moves. finale features a solid 2 on 1 battle leading to a decent climactic showdown, but much of the action in this movie felt like Dragonball Z. overall, i found nothing groundbreaking about the action. solid, good action, but very few eyebrow raising moments. i liked the action in House of Fury more...i only use HoF as a comparison cuz its the best popstar movie ive seen, action wise. i thought the action in Twins Effect was more fun and enjoyable. but the action in DTG isnt bad, its good.
overall, i found this movie to be nothing more than average. i knew walking in that this movie wouldnt meet the hype, and it didnt. plot was subpar, action was solid..but all things considered, i felt disappointed, especially after seeing what Wilson Yip is capable of. i recommend comic book fans to check it out, its worth a watch, but i cant say that this movie really impressed me on any front...maybe if Chen Kuan Tai got to use his monkey fist lol....
6.5 out of 10 - about average.
thanx for reading.
this movie has its strengths, and its weaknesses...but i'll talk about the strengths for now. the cinematography and art direction for this film is generally very good...they went all out with the sets and locations...film is definetely pretty to look at (we're not talkin about Hero, but u kno what i mean lol). Wilson Yip did a fine job directing the movie, and there are a some good cinematic touches in there, and some cool looking shots. however, its unfortnate the same cannot be sed for the plot. it wasnt as horrible as the reviews ive read alluded to, but lets just say i was expecting more in the way of story. the film ends up playing like an old school kung fu movie at its core..which i guess isnt a bad thing depending on what u look for in movies. however, i dont kno if i should blame the writers, or the original comic book, since i havent read it b4. so i suppose i'll let that slide. the acting was very forgettable...altho i gotta say that my face lit up seeing Chen Kuan Tai in there!! i was hoping he would monkey-kung fu somebody's ass haha. he plays a crime boss. donnie yen felt very uncomfortable in his role and out of place in many ways...i mean, im glad he was there since he was one of the only real martial artists in the movie, but he was pretty unconvincing in his role if u ask me. the forgettable dialogue didnt help either. many of the characters were very underdeveloped, and the romantic subplots didnt quite hit. yuen wah's character was really the only one that i felt for. overall, i cant say the plot/dialogue/acting is anything higher than subpar.
now lets get to the action, cuz i know thats what most ppl really care about. Donnie Yen went on record to say that the action is "groundbreaking", and its this and its that....meh. one thing that ive always b*tched about is not Donnie's choreography, but how he shoots his action. Twins Effect was the first donnie choreography i saw that actually impressed me...to this day i still think its some of his best choreography work. expectations were insanely high after SPL, which definetely featured donnies best action. didnt like how some of it was shot, but it was good enuff for me. the action took a step back to me at least. thats not to say the action was bad, it wasnt. donnie went back to his old tricks with the ridiculous close ups (which hinder lots of the action) and flailing arms for many of the fights. because of some of the sketchy camerawork, some of the action was hard to follow. but there were still many great moments in there. Nick Tse and his double has a great fight in the beginning of the movie which is straight kicking. well shot too. next fight features a huge melee battle with donnie and shawn yue, which was ok at best. there was a really cool fight with yuen wah (he still moves great for his age) and the villain, which looked pretty good overall. donnie takes on some dudes with a staff which is probably the best fight in the movie. wide shots and good choreography & speed. on a side note, the villain had some great moves. finale features a solid 2 on 1 battle leading to a decent climactic showdown, but much of the action in this movie felt like Dragonball Z. overall, i found nothing groundbreaking about the action. solid, good action, but very few eyebrow raising moments. i liked the action in House of Fury more...i only use HoF as a comparison cuz its the best popstar movie ive seen, action wise. i thought the action in Twins Effect was more fun and enjoyable. but the action in DTG isnt bad, its good.
overall, i found this movie to be nothing more than average. i knew walking in that this movie wouldnt meet the hype, and it didnt. plot was subpar, action was solid..but all things considered, i felt disappointed, especially after seeing what Wilson Yip is capable of. i recommend comic book fans to check it out, its worth a watch, but i cant say that this movie really impressed me on any front...maybe if Chen Kuan Tai got to use his monkey fist lol....
6.5 out of 10 - about average.
thanx for reading.