MOON WARRIORS is without doubt one of the best examples of Wuxia (not "sword and sorcery" as some reviewers have labelled it) cinema. Wuxia, as I've noted in my other reviews, is a genre akin to the Japanese samurai movies, in that it is about honour, loyalty and the code of the warrior as much as it's about kick-ass fighting. There should always be a bit of romance in Wuxia movies as well, something that's almost always missing from its sister genre, kungfu films ...
If the story seems a tad corny to Western sensibilities, that's probably because Wuxia films take their inspiration from the traditional writings of the Qing and Ming dynasties. But then, STAR WARS (a film that MOON WARRIORS resembles) is pretty corny too, and we don't love it any the less.
Starring a whole flock of Hong Kong pop singers (Andu Lau, Kenny Bee and the late, great Anita Mui), MOON WARRIORS is chock full of astonishing moments. The "ninja" attack as Yuet (Anita Mui) and her ladies-in-waiting fly their kites and the 14th Prince's (Kelvin Wong) incredible skill with the bow when he ignites the logo that reads "Heaven and Earth" (not his name as another reviewer writes).
It should also be pointed out that Sammo Hung also cast his female leads against type deliberately. It would have been more obvious to have cast Maggie Cheung as the delicate princess who knows martial arts but has never used them before and Anita Mui as the hardened assassin. But Sammo is a film-maker who avoids the obvious.
MOON WARRIORS has just about everything - great action, epic storyline and it's achingly romantic - and seems to work best for those who are not kungfu film fans and thus have no preconceived expectations.
But the killer whale - what was Sammo thinking of?
If the story seems a tad corny to Western sensibilities, that's probably because Wuxia films take their inspiration from the traditional writings of the Qing and Ming dynasties. But then, STAR WARS (a film that MOON WARRIORS resembles) is pretty corny too, and we don't love it any the less.
Starring a whole flock of Hong Kong pop singers (Andu Lau, Kenny Bee and the late, great Anita Mui), MOON WARRIORS is chock full of astonishing moments. The "ninja" attack as Yuet (Anita Mui) and her ladies-in-waiting fly their kites and the 14th Prince's (Kelvin Wong) incredible skill with the bow when he ignites the logo that reads "Heaven and Earth" (not his name as another reviewer writes).
It should also be pointed out that Sammo Hung also cast his female leads against type deliberately. It would have been more obvious to have cast Maggie Cheung as the delicate princess who knows martial arts but has never used them before and Anita Mui as the hardened assassin. But Sammo is a film-maker who avoids the obvious.
MOON WARRIORS has just about everything - great action, epic storyline and it's achingly romantic - and seems to work best for those who are not kungfu film fans and thus have no preconceived expectations.
But the killer whale - what was Sammo thinking of?