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Director Benny Chan didn't thought of doing a science-fiction initially (This was also echoed by Wu Jing on another occasion, who mentioned that it was a crime film when the director first approached him.), but as he doesn't want to repeat what he has done before, such as the typical cops vs crooks, car chase or gun combats.

Continue reading "Benny Chan Interview on City Under Siege: It's the Mutating Heart that is Most Gruesome"

 -- City Under Siege --
 As a Mainland cop who is after the malevolent mutants in City Under Siege, life is full of risks and fears for Zhang Jing Chu, who is constantly facing grotesque and gruesome mutants, and she has to keep looking out for her boyfriend Wu Jing, who often neglects or ignores her. She has shattering fights, and a melancholic, heartrending, ponderous relationship. Continue reading "Is Wu Jing Heartless or Caring Towards Zhang Jing Chu in City Under Siege"

-- A Chinese Ghost Story --

With Yan Chi Xia being more romantically inclined in Wilson Yip's A Chinese Ghost Story, the onus of demon hunting now falls upon his senior Xiaxue Fenglei, a brand new character introduced in this film, and played by Fan Siu Wong.

Fan Siu Wong says, "Xiaxue Feng Lei is a family man who cares very much for his sister. While he couldn't understand why his junior Yan Chi Xia would be so besotted with demoness Nie Xiao Qian, he is not completely unsympathetic. He may appear aloof and cold but is actually warm-hearted. Our action choreographer is Ma Yuk Sing, his choreography tends towards the aesthetics and mood, so my moves are more ethereal, not as ferocious as in the past."  

 

In this week's release, Flirting Scholar 2 by director Lee Lik Chi, Fan Siu Wong plays a bandit who poses himself as abbot Wuliang. He will be engaging in a battle of wits against Tang Bo Hu and co. But rather than squaring off against Huang Xiao Ming, he has most fights with Zhang Jing Chu's Qiu Xiang, "Initially, it was very hard for me to imagine fighting Zhang Jing Chu. She is usually portrayed as a weak woman in those arthouse films. But she would train whenever she has spare time, and would consult me and the action director on how to do the action better. Our fight is definitely a major showcase in the film."   Sina

-- City Under Siege --

In this sci-fi actioner directed by Benny Chan, action directed by Ma Yuk Sing and Nicky Li, and starring Aaron Kwok, Ngai Sing, Wu Jing, Zhang Jing Chu, Tie Nan, Zhang Bao Wen, Shu Qi, Benny Chan is upping the ante by lavishly spending around 70m yuan on big explosive action scenes, one of which involves 30 cars crashing.   

 

Having a hand in the choreography, Wu Jing is incorporating some elements of Tai Chi in his martial arts sequences, such as his climatic battle against Ngai Sing, that the latter describes as so intense and frenzied that sparks were flying all over the place.

 

City Under Siege opens in China on August 8, in Hong Kong on the following week, and in Singapore and Malaysia 2 weeks later.

 

Trailer 1: View / Download (Youtube)

Trailer 2: View / Download (Youtube)

Trailer 3: View (Imgo)

Continue reading "Red Alert: Three Theatrical Trailers for City Under Siege"

-- City Under Siege --

On his August 6, 2009 blog entry, Wu Jing says that City Under Siege, directed by Benny Chan, with Ma Yuk Sing as the action choreographer, is near completion. A few days ago, he had a scene involving being smashed against the table. Without any hesitation, he put on the waist guard and did the stunt himself. After the scene was done, someone asked, "This shot doesn't show much of the face, why did you have to do it personally? Didn't you injure your waist sometime back?"

This question boggled Wu Jing. He never thinks of anything else when he is doing an action scene, he just feels it's his job to do it. This is quite a paradox, to an actor, they have to do their scenes personally, it's their duty. But looking from another angle, if a person doesn't know how to take care of themselves when doing their work, how could they talk of finishing it?

This put Wu Jing at a loss, to quote Little Shenyang, "Why is this so?"

Incidentally, a 0:37 video of a scene with a truck being driven to run over the mutant Ngai Sing only to be stopped and lifted by the latter may be viewed on Netease.

Oriental Daily reports that Aaron Kwok says it's great working with Ngai Sing, "Actually, he had a few script choices, but on hearing that he'd be collaborating with me, he flew from US to shoot this film."

Aaron Kwok who was sent to the hospital on the first day he had to wear mutant makeup due to sensitive skin, feels sorry for Ngai Sing who has to be in mutant form all day long, "I introduced the doctor to him, and he teaches me kungfu, we became good friends."

-- Chasing Shadow -

Chasing Shadow, a wuxia movie co-directed by Francis Ng and Marco Mak, produced by Huayi Brothers, starring Francis Ng, Pace Wu, Jaycee Chan, began production without much fanfare in early December 2008. Ma Yuk Sing provides the action choreography while the screenplay was written by Chinese film critic Wei Jun Zi.

Continue reading "Francis Ng Starts Chasing Shadows"

-- Ma Yuk Sing on Shadowless Sword --

Quick, what's the first thing you think about when people say 'Wuxia' - or its Korean counterpart 무협 (Muhyeop)? The action, obviously! But too much focus has always been put on the actors, and not enough on the masters behind the camera directing the stars. Of course nowadays names like Yuen Wo-Ping, Yuen Kwai, Sammo Hung, Jackie Chan, Lau Kar-Leung and Ching Siu-Tung raise more than few eyebrows, but that's mostly because they've either ventured into directing, or emigrated to Hollywood. But what about the Jung Doo-Hong's, the people who are making incredible improvements in the action choreography seen in today's action films?   Twitch >>More<<

-- The White Dragon --

Photo: Sohu

The White Dragon 《飞侠小白龙》, directed by Wilson Yip, is set for release in Mainland on October 28. This period comedy, produced at a budget of over 30 million yuan, was filmed in merely 18 days earlier this year. Ma Yuk Sing choreographs the action.

 

A major point of interest in the movie is a battle scene between Cecilia Cheung and Francis Ng in the bamboo forest, which was shot in 3 days, while the director and the production spent a week scouting location for this scene. To capture the elegance of Cecilia Cheung's lightness skills from different angles, Wilson Yip had no less than three cameras operating at once.

 

It was no mean feat for either Cecilia Cheung or Francis Ng who had to be suspended on wires constantly and were suffering from aches. "The last time I did an action movie was Tokyo Raiders, and this time, being a period movie, the broad movements I did were sometimes not natural and graceful, the director kept reminding me of the bearings of a heroine. My body was terribly sore after doing this scene. It was exhausting and difficult but with Wilson Yip at the helm, all the action scenes look so beautiful." recounted Cecilia Cheung.  Sohu | More Photos: Sohu | Trailer: Sina