Inspired by the character and stories of the legendary kungfu master - though this probably isn't historically accurate, but this has the potential to become a new Wong Fei Hong franchise for the new generation.
With Taiwanese Eddie Peng taking on the mantle this time, I'm somewhat still a little apprehensive about the casting choice. His acting chops weren't as convincing as I would have liked him to be, and his martial art prowess were greatly lacking if one were to compare him to say, Jet Li. But he has the looks and the body making up for the shortcomings though.
I enjoyed the other cast members a little bit more, though I was still complaining silently inside the cinema on the awful dubbing. Sammo Hung still looked light on his feet and was a good choice to play the antagonist.
Angelababy and Wang Luo Dan played strong female characters and were used very effectively in the movie. Jing Boran also had a strong presence playing Wong Fei Hong's best friend. Byron Mann didn't have too much to do though, and he didn't even get to throw a punch.
The addition of Tony Leung Ka Fai as the father of Wong Fei Hong, and how his story unfolded, reminded me of Man Of Steel; and perhaps a little too Hollywood for my taste.
What I enjoyed most was the plot and the strong storyline. Whether or not the director Roy Chow Hin Yeung wanted to be vague about the characters, the story development was good because it kept me guessing on what the intentions of the characters were and how were they linked together, up until there was a clear revelation.
But I also felt that it was the inexperienced direction of Chow that made the first half a bit messy, jumping back between past and present with no clear distinction. Same goes with the kids in this movie, I could not tell them apart most of the time as Chow never bothered with giving them stronger personalities.
The script by Christine To also took a lot of shortcuts that didn't gel well, or made characters disappear and reappear whenever was convenient; like the friend Wong Fei Hong met on the boat in the beginning, who didn't appear again until the third act.
I mentioned above about Peng's martial art skills or there lack of, but maybe it's also because of the fight choreographer, Corey Yuan, who wasn't inspired enough to create better action scenes. There wasn't anything that caught my eye at all. Although, I did roll my eyes when Wong Fei Hung punched through concrete like it was wood. And yet he never managed to punch the living daylights out of his opponents.
A lot of room for improvement for the sequel but this was a promising start.
No comments:
Post a Comment