Interview with Yuen Tak: Unravelling the Mystery of Chinese Kung Fu in ...

Any fresh ideas introduced in the film?
Yuen Tak: The martial arts scenes in older films were executed realistically, but in this film, the action is being combined with CGIs. Our special effects definitely can't be compared to Hollywood, so, we make use of Chinese kungfu here.

How did you work with the special effects team?
Yuen Tak: This was an interesting collaboration, for we have had real people fighting CG robots, so the action design and scaling were very different. Say, a human walking, turning into a car, and back to normal. Very interesting.

In what ways are the robot fights different from real people?

Yuen Tak: For real people, we've to take into account the physical law. But for robots, it's blown out of proportion, defying any law of physics. Apart from flying and burrowing, the robots are very well-versed in many Chinese martial arts, and the eighteen arms - nine long, nine short - all kind of weapons, showcasing all unique Chinese weapons.

Both the robot and its opponent are armed. For example, Alex Fong's weapon can turn into 5, 6 other different types of weapons, Wu Jing's blade is significantly taller than him.

How are their action scenes in terms of wushu?
Yuen Tak: Alex Fong has not done fighting scenes before, he has done his very best, and could even perform action while being suspended midair. Wu Jing has done many action scenes, especially Tai Chi, he's already mastered it to a certain level. But I'd make some amendments, for example, the moves he executes come with earth-shattering effect. Hu Jun doesn't have much action, but he'll get tossed about by the robots, he has more emotional scenes.

Director Jeffrey Lau says that he wanted to create oriental robots , what are the oriental elements?
Yuen Tak: Actually, the foreigners' understanding of oriental elements is Chinese kungfu, thousands of different forms. When we watch Transformers, the robots fight very fast, but without kungfu. In Kungfu Cyborg, apart from soaring, we'd have an arsenal of weaponry. This is where the main difference lies.

Being a comedy, would there be comical effects in the action?
Yuen Tak: When the robot is recreated, its arms and feet might be swapped, and the moves in its fights are heavily stylized. This is a new concept in the film.

When the director made this request, it was your first experimentation, did you encounter any difficulties?
Yuen Tak: Not much difficulties, the biggest challenge was we had to discuss with the special visual effects team on how to blend kungfu with special effects.

Did you train the actors in advance?
Yuen Tak: Originally, we wanted to devote some time to training. But our time was short. And Wu Jing is a martial artist, so it saved us a lot of time.

Can you describe scenes with robots fighting each other?
Yuen Tak: There are two scenes with transformation. The first is when Wu Jing and Alex Fong meet. They move like speed of bullet, and they would turn into cannon vehicles and chase each other, then they change into robots and engage in air combat, and there are many forms of Chinese martial arts, one would use the nunchuka, another a 2m sabre, something never done before. They fight till their weapons are damaged, before turning back to human forms.

Another is the finale, Wu Jing would fight a 50m tall zombie robot. It's very difficult to do the scaling, it's very difficult to see a tiny person fighting something humongous, the proportion is very difficult to get right, and there is a big disparity between their sizes.

Would the names of the martial arts be called out in the film?
Yuen Tak: No, they are not real people after all. While we are using Chinese kungfu, I would make alterations, such as in the speed, the power, but the audience would be able to identify the moves.

What do you think of Jeffrey Lau in terms af action?
Yuen Tak: He's a director with childlike innocence. His past films were truly crazy, but this one is very heartwarming, it explores love and freedom, not just freedom of people, but that of robots.

Describe the film in one sentence.
Yuen Tak: A highly entertaining film that can be enjoyed by young and old alike.  QQ