It appears that when opulent period action films from China like THE PROMISE and THE BANQUET fail to gain traction with international audiences, the solution from local filmmakers is to just crank out more of the same and hope for the best. One of these is from BLACK MASK director Daniel Lee who is treading into the past for the first time, outside of television work.
THREE KINGDOMS: RESURRECTION OF THE DRAGON is engineered from its very core to be an impressive action and adventure movie. Aside from having a ludicrous title better suited to a Playstation video game, the production has a lot going for it… on paper. Coincidently, source material for the film actually did inspire the DYNASTY WARRIORS video game series, along with John Woo’s upcoming war epic RED CLIFF.
The film is based upon China’s literary classic Romance of the Three Kingdoms, written by Luo Guangzhong in the 14th century. It stars Andy Lau, a versatile performer who seems to have drunk from the same Fountain of Youth that once kept Dick Clark perpetually youthful and active for so many years. He seems to be one of only a small handful of actors with the popularity to headline China’s priciest period action films when looking at last year’s BATTLE OF WITS, HOUSE OF FLYING DAGGERS in 2004 and Peter Chan’s WARLORDS, just released in Asia this month.
In THREE KINGDOMS, Lau plays a commoner named Zhao Yun who rises from a lowly station to lead an army against an evil warlord. In later years, he is called upon again to aid a new king in unifying the country by battling China’s remaining rebel warlords.
Backing up Lau onscreen is a sizable cast list from several generations of Hong Kong talent. The younger pack is made up of model and actress Maggie Q (recently seen in LIVE FREE OR DIE HARD), pop star Vanness Wu and action actor Andy On. Veteran martial arts stars include Sammo Hung, Yu Rongguang and Ti Lung as the famous red-faced General Guan Yu. Sammo is also responsible for choreographing the action sequences.
An early trailer, originally shown as Cannes, depicts large-scale battles, moody posturing and elaborately designed costumes, all reminiscent of the current crop of period epics coming out of China. South Korea’s Taewon Entertainment has largely bankrolled the production in excess of $20 million, a hefty amount for a Chinese-language film and it shows in the scale, if not what looks like broadcast-grade digital camera work.
This production excess has become the new trend in Chinese martial arts filmmaking when it comes to period action dating back to Zhang Yimou’s HERO. Unfortunately, for filmmakers and their backers who hope to capture a portion of the international sales usually dominated by Hollywood, it hasn’t been translating well overseas. In 2006, CURSE OF THE GOLDEN FLOWER and THE BANQUET were both competing for Oscar nominations. They both failed. Additionally, THE BANQUET never picked up any distribution in the U.S. and GOLDEN FLOWER earned little more than 10% of the total U.S. box office take garnered by HERO.
Unlike the simple and easy to digest kung fu movies of the 1970s or the creatively staged wirework action of the 1990s, this new brand of martial arts film is slicker, offers more spectacles and is aimed at broader audiences equally enthralled by intrigue, romance and/or richly-crafted depictions of famous historical places and figures of Chinese antiquity. So what’s the problem you may ask? Namely, soul. Although Hong Kong action has always been fueled by commercial interests, its character was defined by imaginative choreography, charismatic screen personalities, unrivaled stunt work, and often common characters overcoming great odds through perseverance, discipline and virtue. Today’s martial arts movies from China more often reflect the same decadence of Hollywood where stories that are out of step with viewers, glitzy polish and excitement largely dependant on advanced editing have supplanted anything that might actually connect with audiences beyond the fleeting allure of eye candy.
Although this is Lee’s first attempt at making a period actioner, his past work suggests he is already in step with putting style over substance. This has become the defining element of a film industry still struggling to replace a dwindling supply of genuine talent and THREE KINGDOMS so far appears to be the latest victim although I’m more than willing to be proven wrong.
Related Topics:Daniel Lee • Three Kingdoms: Resurrection of the Dragon (2008) • upcoming
