The advertising for this movie basically focuses on Donnie Yen once again going ballistic. You'd think he's had enough fighting by now, but never mind. The trailers are wrong. This is not an all out action/martial arts spectacular. It is, in fact, a dramatic and surprisingly very moody mystery thriller set in the not-too-distant past in China.
The beginning sequences show Yen as a simple farm man, a family man who does menial things to make a living. When foiling a bunch of criminals, Yen manages to seemingly accidentally subdue both of them. A quirky investigator (Takeshi Kaneshiro) soon arrives and is intrigued at Yen's seemingly innocent farmer.
Let it be said that in the first half of the movie, Donnie Yen was not acting as the wise-but-tough guy roles he is more famous for, but rather, as a happy-go-lucky farmer that is a cry away from Jackie Chan. The villagers are so happy that they even chant out their feelings. One would suspect comedy and lighthearted fare from this point onward. However, that is not the case. Peter Chan Ho-Sun tense-fully crafts the film away from that direction and starts veering into dark, dark territory. We're talking deep dark secrets involving a heinous, violent and brutal crime that gives off a dark, ominous atmosphere and a somewhat mean streak that continues from that point onward all the way until the end of the film. In fact the darkness of the movie overshadows pretty much everything, even the camera-work looks less colorful as the scenes progressed. Sort of like what would happen if Walter Hill made a Chinese/Kung-Fu movie. You'll get the idea.
During this change of pace, Yen completely transforms his character not into a tough guy, but rather, of a haunted, tortured soul. Yen's versatility as an actor really shines in this movie and I honestly think it is one of his very best performances. As a martial artist, no worries, Yen's still got the moves.
Takeshi Kaneshiro's character is an interesting one. His performance has an aura of quirkiness and yet, sadness, as the film progresses his character becomes ever more tragic and his once-aimless cause becomes justifiable. "Lust, Caution"'s Tang Wei has a supporting role that is basically a stereotyped character in all of this sort of films - the concerned wife. By that standards, she pulls it off well. The biggest surprise for me was seeing Shaw Brothers kung-fu stars Jimmy Wang Yu ("The One-Armed Swordsman") and Kara Hui ("My Young Auntie") on the big screen as the villains, and their fights between them and Donnie is an ironic tribute and homage to their famous characters (in Kung-Fu Cinema at least). Hell, this could very well be a Walter Hill-directed Shaws Brothers film for all I know.
Production value is top notch, especially the locations and cinematography, which were superb. The locations are shown in all of their glory and the camera nicely frames them without being to overblown. The action sequences were well-choreographed (a staple of Yen) but I can imagine some people wanting more action. The editing is nicely framed - the CSI-like flashbacks coupled with Kaneshiro's detailed monologue provides a fascinating view into human pressure points. The music is a refreshing trait for me - the score is too tense and somber and not melodramatic, although I never knew an electric guitar can be that effective in a period kung-fu film, sort of like Ry Cooder in Hill's "Last Man Standing", but then again...
The only thing I didn't like was the ending of the final fight - a near- literal Deux Ex Machina. (But even then I didn't see it coming at all.)
Overall, it is a strange, yet dark and moody, and definitely interesting gem in the Donnie Yen category. By no means is it bad, just somewhat offbeat, but the moody, gritty atmosphere of the film took me by surprise. It's solid stuff, this movie, but don't expect an all-out fight-fest. It's a mystery thriller, and a good one at that.
Overall rating: 70/100
PS: On the reason of mentioning Walter Hill, I find this film's atmosphere to be somewhat similar to Hill's films "Trespass" and "Last Man Standing", both very violent and gritty films with a mean streak. No really. You can feel the uneasiness when watching these films. I certainly did. On this film too.
The beginning sequences show Yen as a simple farm man, a family man who does menial things to make a living. When foiling a bunch of criminals, Yen manages to seemingly accidentally subdue both of them. A quirky investigator (Takeshi Kaneshiro) soon arrives and is intrigued at Yen's seemingly innocent farmer.
Let it be said that in the first half of the movie, Donnie Yen was not acting as the wise-but-tough guy roles he is more famous for, but rather, as a happy-go-lucky farmer that is a cry away from Jackie Chan. The villagers are so happy that they even chant out their feelings. One would suspect comedy and lighthearted fare from this point onward. However, that is not the case. Peter Chan Ho-Sun tense-fully crafts the film away from that direction and starts veering into dark, dark territory. We're talking deep dark secrets involving a heinous, violent and brutal crime that gives off a dark, ominous atmosphere and a somewhat mean streak that continues from that point onward all the way until the end of the film. In fact the darkness of the movie overshadows pretty much everything, even the camera-work looks less colorful as the scenes progressed. Sort of like what would happen if Walter Hill made a Chinese/Kung-Fu movie. You'll get the idea.
During this change of pace, Yen completely transforms his character not into a tough guy, but rather, of a haunted, tortured soul. Yen's versatility as an actor really shines in this movie and I honestly think it is one of his very best performances. As a martial artist, no worries, Yen's still got the moves.
Takeshi Kaneshiro's character is an interesting one. His performance has an aura of quirkiness and yet, sadness, as the film progresses his character becomes ever more tragic and his once-aimless cause becomes justifiable. "Lust, Caution"'s Tang Wei has a supporting role that is basically a stereotyped character in all of this sort of films - the concerned wife. By that standards, she pulls it off well. The biggest surprise for me was seeing Shaw Brothers kung-fu stars Jimmy Wang Yu ("The One-Armed Swordsman") and Kara Hui ("My Young Auntie") on the big screen as the villains, and their fights between them and Donnie is an ironic tribute and homage to their famous characters (in Kung-Fu Cinema at least). Hell, this could very well be a Walter Hill-directed Shaws Brothers film for all I know.
Production value is top notch, especially the locations and cinematography, which were superb. The locations are shown in all of their glory and the camera nicely frames them without being to overblown. The action sequences were well-choreographed (a staple of Yen) but I can imagine some people wanting more action. The editing is nicely framed - the CSI-like flashbacks coupled with Kaneshiro's detailed monologue provides a fascinating view into human pressure points. The music is a refreshing trait for me - the score is too tense and somber and not melodramatic, although I never knew an electric guitar can be that effective in a period kung-fu film, sort of like Ry Cooder in Hill's "Last Man Standing", but then again...
The only thing I didn't like was the ending of the final fight - a near- literal Deux Ex Machina. (But even then I didn't see it coming at all.)
Overall, it is a strange, yet dark and moody, and definitely interesting gem in the Donnie Yen category. By no means is it bad, just somewhat offbeat, but the moody, gritty atmosphere of the film took me by surprise. It's solid stuff, this movie, but don't expect an all-out fight-fest. It's a mystery thriller, and a good one at that.
Overall rating: 70/100
PS: On the reason of mentioning Walter Hill, I find this film's atmosphere to be somewhat similar to Hill's films "Trespass" and "Last Man Standing", both very violent and gritty films with a mean streak. No really. You can feel the uneasiness when watching these films. I certainly did. On this film too.