Film News

-- The Two Major Martial Arts Scenes in SPL (Sha Po Lang) --

Below is what Grady Hendrix of Kaiju Shakedown says about SPL 《杀破狼》:

"I'm a third party (not involved in the production of SPL) and I loved it. It will not break out in the US -- its flavor is too local -- but it was a mature, dark movie that had some great action. More importantly, the action was totally unique. The fight between Wu Jing and Donnie Yen is like nothing I have ever seen before. To me, Xiong Xin-xin was the last fight choreographer who was really experimenting with action choreography in Hong Kong (in THE BLADE and TIME AND TIDE) but Donnie Yen has done something new with this fight in SPL. The filming of the scene if functional, at best (it was shot in one night), but the choreography itself is intense because they miss. I've never seen this in a movie, where blows don't connect. It really looks like two guys trying to beat each other to a pulp -- you can see them strike a blow, miss, improvise their reaction, stop to think about what to do next -- it feels very vicious and real.

"The Sammo Hung/Donnie Yen fight is good, but you can feel how traditional it is compared to the previous Wu Jing/Donnie Yen scene. These are really the only two action scenes in the movie, but you don't notice. A feeling of darkness and violence is in every frame."

-- Legend of A Fighter 2005 --

In Hero and House of Flying Daggers, the most common faults are the nondescript storyline and having more style than substance. Wang Bin says that actually, Zhang Yimou didn't want too much focus on character development and storytelling, for he thought that wuxia movies had already reached their very peaks and the only way to make a breakthrough was through style, not the story or the character development [which explains why House of Flying Daggers is so abysmal], which seriously impeded what the scriptwriters could do.

He says that he had the most satisfactory time working with Jet Li on Legend of A Fighter 《霍元甲》. They had great rapport, Wang Bin very much agreed with Jet Li's notion of expressing the growth of the protagonist and his discovery on the true meaning of Chinese wushu, "When I first saw the script, I thought it was of third-rate, and couldn't even be compared to TV productions. Jet Li told me that because of the inherent problems in the script, the production incurred a lost of 170 thousand yuan every day as they waited for the script to be amended. So, I [and Li Feng] spent 13 days to rewrite the entire script, and very little remained of the original. After the revision, the storyline is particularly interesting, with good pacing and heartfelt sentiments, and I incorporated my own thoughts on life, on people, on nationality, it was very thorough."  Dazhong Daily, Fazhi Evening

-- Legend of A Fighter 2005 --

In Legend of a Fighter which deals with the growth and eventual realisation of Huo Yuan Jia, the character is portrayed as an ordinary person, rather than the exalted status of a folk hero. Huo Yuan Jia is a man of principles, restraint, and great forbearance who doesn't believe in violence and in paying back his enemy in their own coin, as part of the storyline shows:

Spoilers: When his home is destroyed, Huo Yuan Jia goes to Thailand and stays in a backwaters village where he meets a kind-hearted girl Yue Ci who helps heal him. When a civil strife breaks out between two clans there, Huo Yun Jia, in order to save Yue Ci's nephew, promises that he would be at a Muay Thai warrior Bei Zha's disposal should he get knocked down by Bei Zha before the candle burns out, and Huo Yuan Jia is not to retaliate in the meantime. Bei Zha keeps delivering lethal blows to Huo Yuan Jia. Yet, all his blows are simply ineffectual against Huo Yuan Jia [Another version says Huo Yuan Jia suffers some serious injury and vomits blood]. When the candle burns out, Bei Zha still continues to attack Huo Yuan Jia ferociously. So, Huo Yuan Jia is forced to strike back, but holds back all of sudden when his fist is one inch shy of hitting the opponent's throat. Then, Huo Yuan Jia grabs Bei Zha and tosses him up in the air, catches him, and puts him down gently. And so, Bei Zha slinks away.  BigStar | Photos: Sina

-- Legend of A Fighter 2005 --

Legend of A Fighter 《霍元甲》 has begun production quietly at Chedun soundstage in Shanghai on April 3. Directed by Ronny Yu, with Yuen Wo Ping choreographing the martial arts sequences, and starring Jet Li and Sun Li, the 150 million yuan movie highlights the sublime martial arts skills of Huo Yuan Jia (Jet Li) and his patriotism, tracing his growth and development, from a sickly and weak person, who through his relentless pursuits of martial arts, becomes a hero of his times.

One heavyweight scene involves Huo Yuan Jia and his friend going to Thailand on a business trip only to be hunted by some reprobates and eventually escaping to Siamese Villa. Another main plotline of the movie is Huo Yuan Jia's relationship with blind village girl Yue Ci (Sun Li) who aids him in time of needs. The production, which employs over 40 vehicles and a few hundred production crew, has spent quite a big sum of money on set construction in order recreate appropriate feel, such as Tianjin Street, Huo Yuan Jia's luxurious two-storey home, which consists over ten rooms, a 10m² training room, a pond, among other things, and the lavishly built Siamese Villa, which houses two large, custom-made wooden elephant statues.  Meri Daily, Shanghai Morning Post

-- SPL (Sha Po Lang) --

A special screening of SPL was organized sometime at Hong Kong Entertainment Expo last month, and it received very high praises from the film distributors. While Wu Jing did not play a very active role in SPL, his actions and speed had greatly impressed the viewers. Abba Management, which regards promoting Wu Jing as its priority, is gearing up for major plans for Wu Jing towards the end of the year. In the meantime, Wu Jing is getting himself prepared for the new challenges ahead. It is possible that Wu Jing might participate in a kungfu drama soon.  Abba Management