Flying Swords of Dragon Gate - movie review
Flying Swords of Dragon Gate
This is a Tsui Hark remake of another remake of the original Dragon Gate Inn, which was a landmark movie from 1967.
The original remake, with Donnie Yen, Tony Leung and Maggie Cheung was a Wu Xia classic, and got Maggie an acting award, and this was a well anticipated movie. It was also the first 3D movie from Hong Kong to the main stream, if you exclude "Sex and the Zen". Any kung fu movie with Jet Li is usually highly anticipated, and this is no except. So with potentially eye popping 3D effects, plus the spectacle of Jet Li lightning fast moves, was this a success?
While, although I did not watch this in 3D, for me, any movie that relies on CGI to beef up the action, is a lost cause... CGI is a sweetener that when used sparingly, adds flavor to an action movie, but if it is the sole provider of taste, you can see the fakeness of the action like fake boobs...
Age catches up with all the actors, and just as with Jackie Chan, who relied on CGI in his latter movies, this one blows, from the start, when you see that most of the fighting scenes takes place between Jet Li and some newbies who have no martial art skills. Once you take away the fighting scenes, relying on the acting is a tough thing in kung fu shows, and despite some cloak and dagger twists, the characters are mainly two dimensional, and there is little depth to the acting. Despite some promising young actors / actresses, this movie doesn't quite hit the spot, in action or acting. 2/5
You get some babes, and there is that CGI enhanced action, and the sound effects are no slouch, but that makes this ultimately a rental, unless it really comes cheap and you can put aside all other considerations and enjoy the sound.
It is yet another testimony to the old adage that the original shows remain superior to the remakes, and in this case, the remake of the remake, just isn't as good as the remake. Now try and say that 10 times...
This is a Tsui Hark remake of another remake of the original Dragon Gate Inn, which was a landmark movie from 1967.
The original remake, with Donnie Yen, Tony Leung and Maggie Cheung was a Wu Xia classic, and got Maggie an acting award, and this was a well anticipated movie. It was also the first 3D movie from Hong Kong to the main stream, if you exclude "Sex and the Zen". Any kung fu movie with Jet Li is usually highly anticipated, and this is no except. So with potentially eye popping 3D effects, plus the spectacle of Jet Li lightning fast moves, was this a success?
While, although I did not watch this in 3D, for me, any movie that relies on CGI to beef up the action, is a lost cause... CGI is a sweetener that when used sparingly, adds flavor to an action movie, but if it is the sole provider of taste, you can see the fakeness of the action like fake boobs...
Age catches up with all the actors, and just as with Jackie Chan, who relied on CGI in his latter movies, this one blows, from the start, when you see that most of the fighting scenes takes place between Jet Li and some newbies who have no martial art skills. Once you take away the fighting scenes, relying on the acting is a tough thing in kung fu shows, and despite some cloak and dagger twists, the characters are mainly two dimensional, and there is little depth to the acting. Despite some promising young actors / actresses, this movie doesn't quite hit the spot, in action or acting. 2/5
You get some babes, and there is that CGI enhanced action, and the sound effects are no slouch, but that makes this ultimately a rental, unless it really comes cheap and you can put aside all other considerations and enjoy the sound.
It is yet another testimony to the old adage that the original shows remain superior to the remakes, and in this case, the remake of the remake, just isn't as good as the remake. Now try and say that 10 times...
Comments
Post a Comment