“LEGENDARY AMAZONS” 杨门女将之军令如山 Hong Kong Movie Review. A Confusing RE-MAKE of the 1972 EPIC.

“LEGENDARY AMAZONS”

– 杨门女将之军令如山

PRESS REVIEW.

“Just let sleeping dogs lie.”

This would be the firm belief of this Reviewer at dreadful remakes.

As it is in the case of the LEGENDARY AMAZONS where you can expect more chaff than fluff.

Sure, Hong Kong is taking a cue from Hollywood on the vast subject of recommendable remakes.

Hence this much anticipated 2011 adaptation of the immensely successful 1972 Chinese Shaw Brothers classic THE FOURTEEN AMAZONS could either be creating waves or rocking the boat.

Nice timing for a reboot.

The only snag is that the man at the helm of “LEGENDARY WARRIORS” is the missing-in-action-for-a-long-time film director FRANKIE CHAN who’s hardly notable for fielding any big time epic.

JACKIE CHAN extends his friendship by producing this one.

You can tell that no expenses are spared, that is is an extravagant, colossal production.

Yet the problem lies in the latent directorial treatment.

Heavens forbid, it stars the stressful CECILIA CHEUNG who, of late, had been reported to be braving marital woes aside pocketing colossal sums for her smart selection of lucrative come-back roles.

“LEGENDARY WARRIORS” is largely a woman depiction that in ancient times, sweet damsels may not necessarily be as hapless as they seem.

They will cast away hysterics, adorn amours and even bravely fight a war.

This time-worn tale is set in the Song Dynasty where all the weaker men of the Yang Clan are massacred in battle, leaving the women to fend for themselves.

The surviving damsels are culled from the pedigreed lineage, starting from a regal grand dame to family abiding daughters.

Salute as they fearlessly strap on armors and swords and gallop into the battle fields.

The gregarious of them all, a Yang family daughter-in-law, Mu Guiying, is a celebrated woman warrior in Chinese folklore that captained the army.

This movie preaches and exaggerates her story.

History lays claim that the facts remain, but you best exercise discretion to lap this all up, or not.

There are loads of “wire-fu” action galore and generous doses of CGI effects which seem to be a staple diet of recent made-in-China martial arts flicks.

The results show a stupendous “same-ness” that can be boring to a fault.

CECILIA CHEUNG takes on the lead role as Mu Guiying, which was played to perfection by the legendary actress IVY LING PO in the original epic.

Clearly CECILIA lacks the stoic grace and the character dominated by her predecessor.

Most of the times she appears wide-eyed, with a pained or disdainful expression, wailing for whatever it takes. She definitely fared better in maiden roles before her marriage.

The celebrated Shaw Brothers version had a bevy of superstars such as LISA LU, IVY LING PO, LILY HO and LI CHING.

The only notable performers in this remake are CECILIA CHEUNG, RITCHIE REN, KATHY CHOW and CHENG PEI PEI but sadly, this line-up pales in comparison to the 1972 classic.

It would have been splendid to watch CHENG PEI PEI the charismatic 1960s Queen of Swordplay displaying her martial arts prowess in a single fight scene, but no – hold your breath, this is not to be.

For the baby boomer it would make complete sense that this film is targeted at the younger market given the selection of the ensemble cast.

The battle field fights are choreographed to be furious and stupendous, but end up being a total mayhem of confusion with an overkill of CGI.

There are a fair amount of tearing scenes yet strangely, these are unable to milk any sympathy from the press members.

With JOHN WOO or ANG LEE at the helm, this gigantic budget feature could have taken a different direction in terms of visual presentation and storytelling.

Alas ….

Go watch it for whatever it’s worth and be your own judge.

For true-blue fans of CGI, special effects, wire-fu works, CECILIA CHEUNG and RITCHIE REN, this feature film will be a royal treat.

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“PUNISHED” 報應 Movie Review. HE who seeks REVENGE should REMEMBER to dig TWO GRAVES.

“PUNISHED” 報應 PRESS PREVIEW

This film is a tension filler about bad people facing bad karma.

In life you reap, so you sow.

All over the world, at home and in the workplace, you find scores of baddies.

ANTHONY WONG just fits into this baddie role like a glove, as if there’s anything unusual about that.

He’s this Hong Kong’s foremost baddie thespian sporting his trademark scowl, grunt and rant ….

and is back again playing a baddie kingpin at your expense.

This kind of role can do him no wrong. He’s absolutely magnificent.

This time round, he’s out on a vengeance streak to wreak havoc on the ones who had wronged him.

In PUNISHED, his callousness only allow him to remember those who had slighted him.

He is this deplorable tyrant who uses underhand tactics to terrorize his staff and he runs his family with an iron rod.

As a punishment his bratty teenage daughter is kidnapped and subsequently killed by suffocation.

Naturally, he’s out on a rampage.

Take note that in everyone’s life, there will always be a violent “downpour” when you are down-trodden upon, left to die in a pit and you can probably do with some vengeance.

Revenge can be uplifting, and you needn’t go to church for that.

Blood will spill blood, haven’t you heard?

RICHIE REN plays ANTHONY WONG’s ever loyal bodyguard.

He’s well connected with the underworld triads and will go out on a limb to do anything and everything for his unscrupulous employer (or won’t he, really)?

Maybe there’s a secret agenda, something that’s more than meet the eye, but stay tuned for the twist.

Whilst the bodyguard goes to uncover the culprits with great efficiency, the hapless tycoon finds little peace of mind on his own, and is listless about payback.

He has spun his own web of darkness and is now trapped within. There’s no turning back.

Multiple flashbacks shuttling back and forth throughout the entire movie reconstruct the flow of events to explain the dire situations, taking us into the shaping up of an explosive family drama with its hardboiled violence.

His beloved daughter Daisy (JANICE MAN) is dead, but nothing is what it seems.

As the story delves, we find that the sweet daughter was actually a wayward spoiled brat and cocaine addict who openly defied her stepmother (MAGGIE CHEUNG) and her control freak father.

“PUNISHED” strips apart the facades of two men of contrast capably played by ANTHONY WONG and RICHIE REN, heading for a meltdown.

One is a corporate bully who has to watch over his back all the time.

The other is a subservient follower who can solve most everything for his boss, yet is unable to cope with his disdainful adolescent son.

Sterling performances by the two male leads take this movie one-up above the usual cop-and-robber fare.

It is a intense compelling film directed by LAW WING CHEONG that embodies rage, revenge, confrontation, conscience and eventual retribution.

Pomp, power and all the material wealth in the world cannot redeem peace of mind and happiness.

You might want to know if there’s any redemption in the pseudo-spiritual finale.

Go check this out.

FIRE OF CONSCIENCE 《火龙》 Movie Preview. STOMPING through a FURNACE of BASHINGS, BLASTINGS and BLAZINGS.

PRESS PREVIEW

For one, this film is a real blast.

DANTE LAM, Hong Kong action film director is surely setting the screen afire.

Mind you, with an apt title like FIRE OF CONSCIENCE this one is going to be a sizzling hot platter.

The mood and tone is scorchingly fiery: an edgy plot, plenty of flying bullets, well crafted explosions, scheming policemen pitting action against action to outdo one another – ensures this feature would be a mesmerizing, absorbing police thriller.

So danger lives closer than you think.

Specially in Hong Kong filmdom, whenever the script calls for a friend, always count in a foe alongside.

Where good cops dwell, corrupt officers also linger.

When the system breaks down it’s the good cops versus the bad ones.

Welcome to the world of celluloid drama.

Producers abide by a sure-proof formula.

FIRE OF CONSCIENCE ignites the excitement onscreen and goes helter-skelter deep with the explosive police mayhem.

The film director provides plenty of choreographed action, playing precariously with the bullets, multiple explosions, car and alley chasing, guaranteed to have your eyes scorched on the screen and you clinging onto your seat.

The story starts off with a disillusioned cop called MANFRED FONG (LEON LAI) who has to deal with the pain of the past, having lost his zest for living after the unexpected demise of his wife.

He adorns a dishevelled craggy appearance, plodding on in self-pity, hitting the bottle and earning the irk of his superiors.

Enter KEE (RITCHIE REN) an illustrious cop from the Narcotic Bureau and their path crosses whilst investigating the murder of a prostitute.

KEE is smooth and slick and is everything that FONG is not.

But when the plot thickens, we discover that KEE has another agenda on his mind when he befriends FONG, that of an underlining devious ulterior motive.

Now we have two hard-boiled cops with two different mind sets.

DANTE LAM boldly takes us through a maze of unscrupulous weapon dealers and bomb makers to feast our eyes on powerful weaponry and grisly explosions.

CORRUPTION and RAGE are set aflame in FIRE OFCONSCIENCE.

LEON LAI is more than competent this time round as a tortuous policeman thirsty for vengeance.

Behold MICHELLE YE, the underrated Hong Kong actress playing FONG’s staunch sidekick in a cameo role. She discards her glamor puss image to play, admirably, a female cop who challenges the system by putting her life on the line. Despite the short screen time, she provides an alluring relief!

FIRE OF CONSCIENCE promises non-stop adrenaline pumping action.

Trust no one.

In the police force there are hidden doors.

When these are opened, some nightmares can become a reality.

The stakes are high in this epic tale of murder, corruption and obsession.

It’s Two Thumbs Up for the heart-stopping action!

Now, did you hear an explosive blast somewhere?

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