I’ve certainly taken my time with regards to seeing KILL ZONE (SPL/SHA PO LANG) and the hype that surrounded it built it up to a level of expectation that was almost impossible to meet. Although KILL ZONE was a competent action/thriller, there were too many elements present that prevented it from being a masterpiece, and only a few noticeable reasons for its highly acclaimed status.
KILL ZONE surrounds Donnie Yen’s cop and his drafting into a new police squad to take over the role of a retiring chief, and the subsequent battle of morals that faces him as a ruthless crime boss (Sammo Hung) enters the picture. On the surface, Yen is a good guy, and his attitude towards the crooked nature of the existing force is made clear, but as the story progresses his own dark past is revealed and his character’s complexities are more evident. However, his role is never fully explored throughout the short running time and resultantly; he comes across as more of a pretty face who can beat people up REALLY well than an interesting or multifaceted character.
In a sense, the same lack of development befalls many of the other characters, for example Sammo Hung is relegated to a clichéd gangster with a fondness for banging glass bottles on handrails (it makes him look hard). Wu Jing – who is by far the most potentially interesting character – never gets any hint of a back-story or exploration and thus the film’s best fight scene loses a build-up that could have made it even more effective.
Talking of fight scenes, we are treated to two of the most tightly choreographed and exhilarating fight sequences of the last decade (someone tell that to the idiot who wrote that terrible list), the first of which being the aforementioned Donnie Yen vs. Wu Jing. It’s a testament to the filmmakers when the best fight scene in the movie contains not one flip, no elaborate acrobatics, no wire-work and not even any kicks. It’s a lighting fast hand-to-hand/baton-to-knife brawl that is one of the most expertly choreographed fight sequences I’ve ever seen.
The second fight between Sammo Hung and Donnie Yen is great merely by virtue of who is doing the fighting, and had it been a less than average fight scene, it still would have been worth watching just because it’s SAMMO HUNG VS. DONNIE YEN! It’s another unorthodox fight sequence from Yen, and is far more concerned with the kind of grappling seen in FLASHPOINT than of any complex wushu-inspired acrobatics. I have to admit, I wasn’t completely blown away with it and it’s not quite as good as the previous scrap, mainly as it employs a few too many improbable wire-tricks that when based in a film that seems to be steering away from wire-work, look slightly out of place.
Unfortunately, the two previously described fight scenes are the only ones of any impact – the rest are either teasers or one-note attacks – which is unfortunate, as the film could have benefitted from a few more. This lack of fight scenes does allow the film to focus on the more dramatic elements, but even these aren’t as effective as they should be.
KILL ZONE, taken aside from the fight scenes is mediocre due to a number of reasons. Firstly, the music in many of the scenes lends it such a TV-movie feel that it overrides any on-screen action and cheapens the film to a certain degree – it’s also irritating because in other scenes the music is quite effective. Secondly the narrative seems to take giant leaps and liberties with some characters – particularly Sammo Hung – sometimes even using a cheap intertitle to relate a specific plot element. Finally, my last gripe was the hyper masculine acting style that everyone seemed to employ. I believe Yen, Hung and Yam are all competent actors, but the sheer amount of macho posturing on display in KILL ZONE was distracting to say the least, and ruinous to say the most. Yen was probably the worst offender here, with thumbs in pockets cowboy-style posing one minute to waggling a pointing figure whilst looking very angry the next – and thus the required hardness was demoted to stage-school bouncer-toughness.
Aside from the flaws, KILL ZONE still emerged an efficiently competent action/thriller with a relatively engaging story (that certainly picked up momentum towards the end) and two fantastic action sequences that are certainly a must-see for fans of the genre, and consequently and similarly – so is the film.
The two-disc R2 DVD from Cine-Asia seems to have the same special features that are included on the R1 Dragon Dynasty release, which is evidenced in the strange headline on the DVD cover stating: ‘Cine-Asia presents Dragon Dynasty’. Whether this means all subsequent Cine-Asia releases will be R2 versions of Dragon Dynasty discs remains to be seen.
The special features include a commentary by martial arts cinema fact-machine Bey Logan, a making-of featurette, a few trailers, a wealth of interviews, two fight-scene break-downs and a promotional gallery. By far the most interest special feature is the ‘Anatomy of a Scene’ featurette, which explores both the main fight sequences and comes with an optional commentary with Bey Logan and Donnie Yen. These two featurettes offer a great insight into the filming process behind these meticulously designed action sequences and listening to Logan and Yen share their vast knowledge is thoroughly interesting.
Aside from the extra material, the DVD does everything else that is expected of the high quality releases that we’ve seen thus far from Cine-Asia – great picture quality, fantastic sound, and both English and original language audio and English subtitles.
KILL ZONE is available on Blu-ray and DVD in the U.K. beginning March 8, 2010 courtesy of Cine Asia. The film is also currently available on DVD in the U.S. courtesy of Dragon Dynasty.
by Gazz OgdenRelated Topics:
Cine Asia • DVD • SPL (2005)
- Paul
- inge
