Legend of Zu, The (2001)

Tsui Hark revisits the tales of heroic deeds and fantastic adventure among the magical mountains of Zu where a band of immortal warriors with supernatural powers must contend with an evil force that threatens to destroy the clans of Zu and the helpless people who live below.

In 1983, Tsui Hark wrote and directed Zu: Warriors from the Magic Mountain, an unrestrained effort of visually stunning proportions that revolutionized fantasy in Hong Kong film, a genre that had gone out of fashion years before. In The Legend of Zu, Tsui recast the film to take advantage of the computer effects wizardry available. What has resulted is another unrestrained effort of visually stunning proportions, yet hardly revolutionary.

The ambitious and at times confusing story begins as King Sky (Ekin Cheng), the sole survivor of the Kun Lun clan witnesses the death of Dawn (Cecilia Cheung), his mentor by a demon named Insomnia who manifests itself in the form of thousands of flying skulls. Flash forward 200 years and Insomnia has returned to the Zu mountains to lay waste to the Omei clan, led by the powerful and righteous Whitebrows (Sammo Hung Kam-po). Unable to defeat the clan outright, Insomnia tricks the clan members into opening the Blood Cave, a powerful force within the mountains that begins to drain the power from all the remaining clans. Troubles mount as the two guardians of Omei fail to merge the power of their Heaven and Thunder Swords resulting in the death of Thunder Sword wielder. Meanwhile, the clan’s eldest brother, Red is possessed by Amnesia, a pixie-like demon that escaped from the Blood Cave. Later, King Sky is roasted while trying to restore the memories of his former mentor to her reincarnated form, now known as Enigma. As the remaining guardian of Omei, Enigma’s spirit is stolen by Amnesia and her body is hidden in the Blood Cave. The only hope for the Omei clan and the world is in Ying (Wu Jing), appointed by fate to wield the Thunder Sword despite the fact that his power remains dormant. In the end, King Sky is rejuvenated and must combat his old friend, Red while Ying and Enigma must combine their power to destroy Insomnia once and for all.

The story may sound confusing and it is. Tsui Hark, who not only produced and directed the feature, also wrote it. While covering the same topic of the first Zu film, this story is definitely different and employs different characters. Tsui combines classic storytelling elements with his usual brand of manically paced action, coupled with an insane amount of visual effects to create a mixed bag of sorts. There are classic Chinese themes present such as honor among brothers and devotion to one’s master. There are also classic storytelling elements found in any culture’s mythology such as men seduced by an evil masquerading as beauty. Unfortunately for Western audiences, this film assumes the viewer is familiar with Chinese mythology and the series of written stories on which this film was based, dispensing with explanations after a short introduction.

Like its predecessor, The Legend of Zu leans heavily on a desire to wow you with jaw dropping visuals. The digital effects are certainly impressive, although not always convincing. At times, the sheer amount of eye candy jumps at you so frantically that it’s hard to register it all. This overkill actually diminishes the overall impact on the the story. Yet, the effects are mostly engaging even when you’re not sure about what is happening.

Ricky Ho’s score for the film is spectacular by Hong Kong standards and lends an authority to the film that the spastic effects attempt to steal. The actor’s performances manage remarkably well considering that they were almost all shot before a green screen with little or no interaction with the onscreen environment. Cecilia Cheung delivers the most engaging performance thanks to her charming beauty and sultry voice (I could listen to her talk all day but I digress). Zhang Ziyi is wasted in a throwaway role, although she does get to engage in the only conventional swordfight in the film. Sammo Hung is likewise in a throwaway role who, sort of reprises his role in Zu: Warriors as the white-bearded sage.

In the end, The Legend of Zu is thwarted by its own exuberance. While impressive, too much time and energy is spent on the effects, effectively numbing the senses and crowding out emotion while an overly-ambitious story may confuse some viewers. With cutting edge digital effects, a solid cast and an exhilarating score, Tsui Hark’s re-casting of his 1983 epic is an entertaining ride that relies too heavily on it’s lavish “light show” effects, failing to push the genre into new territory.