The movie first came to my attention because Grady Hendrix did a commentary track on the Criterion release, and Mr. Hendrix is a friend of a friend of mine. I've met him a couple of times, read most of his books, and find him quite the entertaining fellow. So, when I found out that he had gone so far as to record his appreciation for the film on such a prestige label as Criterion, I just had to check out King Hu's film.
Which I, of course, did. And I was left a bit perplexed. I found the film okay, but nothing particularly special. I suppose it was about the time of Xiao's big scene where he shows off how much of a badass that he is that I kind of tuned out a bit. It's not that badassery disinterests me, it's that badassery on its own feels boring to me. Yeah, he's awesome at everything he does. These days, that could be referred to as a Mary Sue. And Xiao isn't the only one. He gets paired up with a brother and sister team and an old Chinese general, and they're all just awesome badasses. And the bad guys are awesome badasses. There didn't seem to be a real character amongst them.
So, confused at the perceived disconnect between my own opinion and those obvious from the critics listed on the movie's Metacritic page, I found the essay commissioned by Criterion written by Andrew Chan for their disc release of the film. And in that essay, the author admits fully that the characters are thin, the plot threadbare, and themes almost nonexistent. Instead, the film is meant to be appreciated from a purely aesthetic level. And, I'll admit it, the movie looks good (the print itself is fantastically restored). Hu obviously has a strong eye and can fill a frame artfully, but it all felt so artificial to me.
On top of that, the action felt, at times, to be rather amateurish. I don't think it reflects on the skill of the choreographers involved, but simply on the reality that it's hard to convincingly create fights where one person successfully takes on 5 or 6 others. Surrounded, someone should be able to stab the lone individual in the back easily, and I kept seeing opportunities for it, which took me out of the moment. Take, for instance, the long sequence that introduces Xiao's badassery. There's a moment where he takes his full bowl of noodles and flings them across the room where they land without having spilt a drop right in front of someone else. The idea is kind of cool, but the execution doesn't really convince me of the moment's reality. It's cut too quickly from Xiao throwing the bowl to it sailing in the air to it spinning into place. I don't get the sense that the character of Xiao actually did the deed because of how quickly it's thrown together. I would have been more convinced with a long shot that held through the whole action.
I don't know, but I just felt like the movie is akin to a B-movie well done instead of something that deserves high praise.
Which I, of course, did. And I was left a bit perplexed. I found the film okay, but nothing particularly special. I suppose it was about the time of Xiao's big scene where he shows off how much of a badass that he is that I kind of tuned out a bit. It's not that badassery disinterests me, it's that badassery on its own feels boring to me. Yeah, he's awesome at everything he does. These days, that could be referred to as a Mary Sue. And Xiao isn't the only one. He gets paired up with a brother and sister team and an old Chinese general, and they're all just awesome badasses. And the bad guys are awesome badasses. There didn't seem to be a real character amongst them.
So, confused at the perceived disconnect between my own opinion and those obvious from the critics listed on the movie's Metacritic page, I found the essay commissioned by Criterion written by Andrew Chan for their disc release of the film. And in that essay, the author admits fully that the characters are thin, the plot threadbare, and themes almost nonexistent. Instead, the film is meant to be appreciated from a purely aesthetic level. And, I'll admit it, the movie looks good (the print itself is fantastically restored). Hu obviously has a strong eye and can fill a frame artfully, but it all felt so artificial to me.
On top of that, the action felt, at times, to be rather amateurish. I don't think it reflects on the skill of the choreographers involved, but simply on the reality that it's hard to convincingly create fights where one person successfully takes on 5 or 6 others. Surrounded, someone should be able to stab the lone individual in the back easily, and I kept seeing opportunities for it, which took me out of the moment. Take, for instance, the long sequence that introduces Xiao's badassery. There's a moment where he takes his full bowl of noodles and flings them across the room where they land without having spilt a drop right in front of someone else. The idea is kind of cool, but the execution doesn't really convince me of the moment's reality. It's cut too quickly from Xiao throwing the bowl to it sailing in the air to it spinning into place. I don't get the sense that the character of Xiao actually did the deed because of how quickly it's thrown together. I would have been more convinced with a long shot that held through the whole action.
I don't know, but I just felt like the movie is akin to a B-movie well done instead of something that deserves high praise.