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• Iron Mask

  Thursday, Mar 13, 2008 9:42PM / Information

  Finally, Yuen Wo Ping is back to the director's seat, after a decade! (The last work he directed was Legend of Dagger Lee TV series with Jiao En Jun, Wu Jing, Alyssa Chia, Yu Fei Hong, Eddie Ko, Chen Kai etc.) It's Iron Mask (tentative) that was announced at last year's Cannes Film Festival. Not sure if Andy Lau is still attached. They are having a casting call, and have just done location scouting in Yunnan, and is slated to begin filming in around May or so. Hopefully, Wu Jing may land a role on this project too - after he finishes Wolf Fangs.
  
  

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• J&J Project - J vs J vs Y

  Sunday, Mar 9, 2008 3:13PM / Standard Entry / Fictitious

  Inspired mostly by Jet Li on the Mirth of Working with Jackie Chan on Forbidden Kingdom while the last portion inspired by what Tsui Hark says about how She Ain't Mean came about.

  
  
  
  
  Jackie: Quick, lift up your feet.
  
  Jet: Huh?
  
  Jackie: I need to know what to say next.
  
  Jet: You mean you pasted the notes underneath my shoes?
  
  Jackie: Yes, there isn’t any more room on your costumes. Quick, lift up your feet.
  
  Jet: But, how did you slip them from under my nose?
  
  Jackie: No, not your nose. I couldn't stuff anything there. Besides, even if I could, I wouldn't be able to see. There're under your shoes.
  
  Jet: I mean how did you do that without my knowing.
  
  Jackie: That's the mysticism of Drunken Boxing, it's something you wouldn't be able understand.
  
  Jet: But I've learned it too.
  
  Jackie: What you learnt in Last Hero in China can't be compared to mine. I've fully mastered everything in Drunken Master.
  
  Jet: But... we all learned the same thing from Eighth Master.
  
  Jackie: Eighth Master was secretly holding something back. He didn't teach us everything. He's saving the best for himself. But I managed to learn all on the sly, observing him sercretly and stole his manual. That's why he wouldn't want to work with me anymore. He feared that I might steal all his trade secrets. It's on your account that he's willing to work with me this time around. But he's always on his guard now.
  
  Pooooof. Mist. Eighth Master appears all of sudden from out of nowhere and whispers to Jet Li: When he does that, you do that, followed by that and finish off with that. Get it?
  
  Eighth Master goes back to his director's seat.
  
  Jackie Chan: What did he say?
  
  Jet Li: He told me not to tell you. It's trade secret.
  
  Jackie Chan: Never mind, lift up your legs.
  
  Jet Li: Ok.
  
  ... and several minutes later, Jackie Chan is sprawling on all four.
  
  Jackie Chan: How could you do that? We're supposed to end up in a draw.
  
  Jet Li: I'm sorry. I didn't know you didn't know. It's Eighth Master, he says...
  
  Pooooof. Mist. Eighth Master appears again and interrupts: Yes?
  
  Jackie Chan: But that's not part of the scrīpt.
  
  Eighth Master: There is a change of plan. I got the agreement from the director.
  
  Laughing maniacally, Eighth Master mutters to himself: He has no choice anyway under my "gentle persuasion".
  
  Eighth Master: That'll teach you who's the boss around here and to show some respect to The Peerless Maestro of Martial Arts (Choreography). Did you think I, The Peerless Maestro of Martial Arts (Choreography), would not be aware of what you were up to back then? I purposely let you steal the wrong manual. It only teaches you how to do silly things. But what I miscalculated was that the silly antics you do in the movies are what make you so successful today. So, you still owe me one either way.
  
  Jackie and Jet bow in reverence to the ever so wise Eighth Master, The Peerless Maestro of Martial Arts (Choreography), The Transcendent Choreographer Beyond Compare.
  
  
  
  

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• Li Yuan Hunting Xie Miao In Legend of Shaolin Kungfu 2

  Sunday, Feb 17, 2008 11:44PM / Video

  More awesomeness from Legend of Shaolin Kungfu 2. This footage was shot on digital video camera with the help of a female makeup artist and edited by both Li Yuan and Xie Miao. A very professional job at capturing the scene as well as in editing. And none of them are professionals in these professions of cinematography and editing. (This is not the actual production footage; it's done by the trio - the makeup artist, martial arts actors Li Yuan and Xie Miao - to share with us a thrilling scene from the upcoming TV series.)
  
  You may view the footage at Li Yuan's blog and read more about their characters on my site.
  
  
  
  
  

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• A Legend of Shaolin Kungfu

  Sunday, Jan 27, 2008 6:01PM / Standard Entry / Review

  《少林寺传奇》 A Legend of Shaolin Kungfu - Heroes in Turbulent Times
  
  Director/Producer: Du Xiao (Lemo Do)
  Martial arts choreography: Ching Siu Tung
  Main cast
  Bao Guo An 鲍国安 - Abbot Zhi Yuan
  Li Chong 李冲 - 1st disciple Hui Yuan
  Li Yuan 李渊 - 2nd disciple Hui Shi
  Ye Jian Wei 叶剑卫 - 3rd disciple Hui Nu
  Xie Miao 谢苗 - 4th disciple Hui Ren
  Wang Xiao Long 王小龙 - 5th disciple Hui Kong
  Sun Hui Ning 孙卉凝 - Swordswoman Xi Yue
  Wang Gang 王刚 - Gao Yang, Emperor of Qi
  Wu Jing An 吴京安 - Yang Jian, General of Zhou
  
  Official site: http://www.filmland.com.cn/en_index.htm
  
   
  
  
  

  Legend of Shaolin Kungfu series is a trilogy consisting of Heroes in Troubled Times, Thirteen Warrior Monks, and Eighteen Arhats. The first, Heroes in Troubled Times, consisting of 42 episodes, is now airing in China to great success, with very high viewership ratings. It seems that the DVD has not been officially released in China yet. So far, the full length DVD appears to be available only in Singapore. Picture quality of this DVD set, except for the last disc, is the not the best since it's compressed quite a bit, with slightly fuzzy images when the camera zooms about, with 8 episodes being packed onto a single DVD-9 disc.

  Legend of Shaolin Kungfu I comes in six short stories telling the daring exploits of the 5 disciples of Abbot Zhiyuan. The last is a vagrant who tags along with the 5 monks after he meets them; a smart-aleck character of great annoyance who breaks all rules as a monk, yet remains faithful to Shaolin Temple. The stories are independent of each other, except for the relationships, ties and backgrounds of the characters who appear throughout the series. Being independent stories, it seems that the 5 disciples of abbot Zhiyuan rarely make much progress in martial arts skills, and training sequences are notably absent.
  
  
  The Neurotic Prince - Our favourite baddie Ji Chun Hua plays a bloodthirsty, aggressive, vile general serving under psychotic and maniacal Prince Anthony Wong. Second and third disciples Li Yuan and Ye Jian Wei have some superb sequences against Ji Chun Hua here. Li Yuan is simply amazing.
  
  The Brigands - Yu Cheng Hui and his gang of brigands are posing a big threat to the region, robbing caravans, killing and kidnapping the people. Some of them even dress as monks, thereby implicating Shaolin Temple. Yu Cheng Hui is someone who looks more radiant, commanding as he ages. He's doubled frequently (possibly by the fantastic Guo Hui who also appears in this portion as Yu Cheng Hui's right-hand man) - for crazy stunts that someone nearing/around 70 years old wouldn't be able to pull off anyway. But it's still a delight to watch when he is doing his own martial arts - double-handed sword - even if the weapon used is a variation.
  
  Contention for the Kasaya - Despite his present status as the High Priest, enjoying immense power and prestige, expelled Shaolin monk Wu Ma is still not satisfied. He is still sore over not being named the successor to Shaolin Temple and covets Bodhidharma's Kayasa. A slow-moving story. Yawning not included - provide your own.
  
  The Bodhi Sword - The 5 Shaolin disciples are now assigned to guarding The Bodhi Sword that everyone, including Chen Jia Jia and Tsui Siu Ming, are eying on. This is my favourite; finally some training sequences here but still not enough of them. Somewhat wuxia-esque, dance-like flavour for Chen Jia Jia's action scenes. Very touching scene on how the monks would rather transfer the pain to themselves than let the deer come to further harm.
  
  Princess' Love - Lovely Princess Fatima Yaqi runs away from arranged marriage to Shaolin Temple to look for her missing lover Xie Miao. Finally, Xie Miao gets to shine here with weapon work and fisticuffs. The exchanges between the monks themselves during the trials represent some of the best martial arts sequences ever.
  
  Return of the Prince - The brother of present emperor of Qi sees the royal family from the previous dynasty a prime threat to his ascendency. Having found out that the former prince is hiding in Shaolin Temple, he sends general Li Qi Long to capture him. Just as the first, the final segment of the series contains lots of fightings.
  
  
  The scrīpt is excellent, compelling, with good pace. All characters are well-written, each having distinct personalities, strengths, and weaknesses - except for the abbot, who is practically enlightened, flawless, above all worldly desires. He's after all, modelled after 2nd Zen Patriarch Hui Ke. Each story usually opens with a simple, typical setting. Yet as it progresses, there unfolds layer after layer of complexity, and involves something of an even bigger scope and/or twist. Fair amount of philosophies are dished out too, often by abbot Bao Guo An while his six disciples, who are selfless and kind by nature, are practitioners who have to overcome obstacles along the way, not yielding to temptations, and learning to let go, to forgive their enemies. It's a faithful production revolving around Shaolin Temple that tries its best not to distort Buddhist doctrines, by having monks eating meat and such.
  
  I've never seen such an impressive ensemble of martial artists in one single TV series since Master of Taichi. The production advertises having 16 wushu champions and they're not joking. Each of the six stories comes with a number of different opponents, all with strong martial arts background, for the 5 monks to fight. In other words, those who fight, must have the capacity to do so well. And those who don't fight, are veteran actors who provide convincing acting. This is the best kungfu series I've seen since 36th Chamber of Southern Shaolin - I'd have gone with Seven Swordsmen if it's not wuxia.
  
  Not only does Legend of Shaolin Kungfu contains three to four times the amount of martial arts scenes compared to a regular series, they are executed mostly to utmost perfection, with no resort to camera tricks. It's a wonder they are able to film such a large quantity of martial arts sequences, all reasonably long, ranging from 1 to 3 minutes, without sacrificing quality in just 4 months (Correction: They spent almost 6 months in filming). Moreover, the fights are not thrown in haphazardly for the sake of having fights - they blend seamlessly with the plot. There's always a motivation behind each fight.
  
  

  All martial arts sequences are of exceptional quality, on the realistic side, with occasional use of pseudo bullet time, used to good effects. The one to one exchanges are especially great. However, when the 5 Shaolin monks team up to fight one impossibly strong opponent at the end of each story, the choreography gets rather shoddy implementation, with weak formations, quick cuts, and rather chaotic, over-the-top choreography. Maybe Ching Siu Tung can't handle formation fighting, or maybe they're short of time. And it's odd that the monks still need to team up even up to the final story. Haven't they made any progress at all? Are Shaolin martial arts so weak that they can't face an opponent single-handedly, or it's simply for the sake of ensemble casting? Or maybe I need to watch this from the perspective of the guy being surrounded, since when the 5 Shaolin monks fight individually against many opponents, the action remains good. Otherwise, the editing of the action is good, with wide shots and long cuts, showing everything clearly. However, sometimes, they love chopping up a martial arts sequences into parts, inserting a drama scene in between. This is bad. Big disruption, and they've even eaten up bits of the action in the process, such that when it switches back to the martial arts sequence, it doesn't always connect to the previous part. 
  
   
  
  Among the five Shaolin disciples, each using an unique skill or two, Li Yuan (above) stands out the most. He's certainly one to watch out for. He has a very good potential. His moves exhibit a combination of athleticism, effortlessness, potentency, and gracefulness. He is simply amazing and highly convincing. While he uses fist almost exclusively, he is no less conversant in swordplay, though only employed once. His fortes are Taichi, Sword, Sabre, Drunken Sword, Praying Mantis Fist; Tae Kwan Do; and Sanda. Ching Siu Tung must have been impressed by him to invite him for An Empress and the Warriors. He'll be playing the antagonist in Legend of Bruce Lee series. Ye Jian Wei and Xie Miao put up very good performances too, handling complex manoeuvres with ease. Wang Xiao Long is still young and is there mostly for adding a touch of cuteness. Li Chong is perhaps the only monk not known to have martial arts background. His actions are of more simplistic, straight-foward, brute force type, something suitable for one of his size and weight.
  
  Legend of Shaolin Kungfu shows that China has no shortage of fresh martial arts talent, it just depends on whether the producer, director are willing to take the risk and cast them when they shoot a kungfu series/film, in which only professional martial artists are capable of bringing out the authentic flavour of and doing true justice to martial arts. Many kudos to Du Xiao for daring to make such an bold investment in bringing fresh martial arts talent to the screen. Definitely looking forward to Legend of Shaolin Kungfu 2, where most of 5 disciples are back.

  
  

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• Flash Point

  Wednesday, Aug 8, 2007 10:17PM / Standard Entry / Review

  The movie opens and concludes with Donnie Yen thinking out aloud, "Have I ever wronged anyone? I'll leave it to the judge to decide. I'm a cop... my duty is to catch the thieves." From those words, you can tell that he means business and so does this film. And this pretty much sums up the whole movie, to the point and effective. The elegance of this movie lies in its directness and simplicity. While it follows SPL concept of bad guys get away due to lack of evidence and eventually cops get so pissed off and flout all rules to get them, the movie is less grim, less dark, not as atmospheric and takes place in a somewhat zany world (albeit without getting silly) where something somewhat loony would take place here and there, yet at the same time maintaining an earnest tone. So there are times logic is being put aside. While SPL carries the underlying theme of father, Flash Point centres on maternal ties. The movie, which was apparently based on real events, does a good job in taking time to establish the shimmering characters. It has a sparkling soundtrack that fits the mood. (I must say I can't stand one second of the jarring techno, heavy metal stuff in Invisible Target.) The film can get quite violent at times, insofar as there's apparently some disputes over the film classification in HK that release is being pushed back by a week to Aug 9.
  
  In a way, Flash Point is unequivocally an SPL prequel (This may explain why they'd want to call the film SPL 2 initially. However, Gold Label, which holds the rights did not allow them use the name as it is reportedly working on its own version of SPL 2.) with the focus being on Ma Jun of the renegade star Army Breaker, when he's still an extremely violent super-cop of one track mind - to catch the criminals at whatever costs. He has the sadistic tendency to seriously injure the criminals he is after, and derives satisfaction out of it, he makes sure that he finishes up the job by cuffing up the incapacitated victim - dead or alive. Thus, he always lands himself in awkward situations with his superiors. However, being a loner, non-conformist, he always defies authorities - often to great comical effect. Fancy Donnie Yen being relieved of his duties as an investigator and made to conduct a band? Such are the oddball relations between Donnie Yen and other cops that something funny would bound to happen whenever there's another cop around.
  
  Xing Yu carries himself very well, standing out as a brash, straightforward guy who resolves everything with his fists. Unfortunately he was not given enough time to give full play to his martial arts skills - all his action scenes are rather short. Still, it's amazing to see him running over the chairs and tables, seemingly unassisted by wires, that could topple any minute.
  
  There are sporadic action scenes throughout the film, but they're all rather short. I thought they're being a little too stingy with length. With Invisible Target, you get desensitised with over-dosage of action, but Flash Point just leaves you wanting for more. There are two or three places which could definitely benefit from having extended action scenes without getting in the way of drama: at the beginning in which the three brothers are attacked by their rival Lin Guo Bin/Lin Kwok Pun, Xing Yu-Donnie Yen showdown near the end (Reportedly Xing Yu eardrum was shattered by Donnie Yen when filming this scene. Maybe that's why it's it was kept short.), and the opening scene whereby Donnie Yen storms the boxing training facility (How about putting the unseen martial artists from around the globe to block Donnie Yen before he could catch his target there?).
  
  In the finale, we get an intense, superbly shot gunfight, followed by the excellent Donnie vs Ngai Sing exchange of fists. The camera was a mite too close in the beginning when the fight breaks out in a storage room on the 2nd floor. Thankfully, this was addressed quickly once they get to the ground floor. In the middle, there's a splendid scene in which they go freestyle for 2 rounds, with missed hits, bad synchronisations, all executed at incredible speed, similar to the fight between Donnie Yen - Wu Jing in SPL. However, it is reduced too early to a one-man show, as Ngai Sing loses out too soon and is already limping in the last 2/5 of the fight, getting beaten up only.
  
  The martial arts scenes in Flash Point are more evolutionary than revolutionary. If you've seen SPL, you'd know what to expect here. But this time around, there are more interactions with the environment. However, I don't like too much takedowns, chokes, ground holds, and all that, which feel sluggish, as in the case of the finale between Donnie Yen and Ngai Sing (or Sammo Hung vs Donnie Yen for that matter). Mixed Martial Arts or not, I still prefer trading of fists and kicks.
  
  Wilson Yip is the man, and together with Donnie Yen and Szeto Kam Yuen, they pack a delightful and uproarious punch.
  
  

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26

4/6

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