A Chinese Ghost Story - Die Dämonenkrieger

The Tsui Hark production "A Chinese Ghost Story" is without a doubt a seminal classic of Hong Kong cinema, successfully blending some of its signature elements like over-the-top action, overwrought emotions and a dizzying mix of various genres- in this instance, romance, comedy and horror. It is a tall task then to attempt a reinterpretation of it, but "Ip Man" director Wilson Yip has boldly attempted to go where no Hong Kong director has dared to tread.

It seems however that this reluctance has been for good reason- despite Yip's efforts at mimicking the hallmarks of the earlier film, his 2011 remake is a slapdash product with little actual merit. The ineptness of Yip's version is indeed appalling- especially considering his solid, if not outstanding, work on the two "Ip Man" movies- and in almost every respect proves to be inferior to Ching Siu-Tung's original. That is, except for its end credits- and only because it rehases the late Leslie Cheung's classic theme song.

Right from the beginning, one can sense that there is something amiss with the movie. A hastily-told prologue tries to establish- but fails to do so with any resonance- the doomed romance between demon slayer Yan Chi Xia (Louis Koo) and Nip Siu-Sin, or Xiao Qian (Liu Yifei) as she is more popularly known. Apparently, Cia Xia didn't have the heart to kill Siu-Sin when the time came for him to do so- instead, he erased her memory of their relationship and set her free, thereby also falling out with another demon slayer Thunder (played by Ip Man regular Fan Siu-Wong).

Fans of the original would already suspect the difference between the two, and true enough, the focus of Yip's movie seems to have shifted to the character of Chi Xia- in the process, setting up Leslie Cheung's Ning Cai Chen (played here by the terrible Chinese actor Yu Shaoqun) as a romantic rival instead to Chi Xia for Siu-Sin's affections. Cheung's classic character turns out to be the scholar a water-impoverished town turns to for assistance, and it is to solve their water woes that Cai Chen ventures into the mountains, meets Siu-Sin and lands up at Lan Tze Temple.

As with the original, the trio's common enemy is the Tree Demon, to whom Siu-Sin's spirit is enslaved to and with whom Chi Xia and Cai Chen will eventually battle against in a CG-heavy action-packed finale. The latter has Yip demonstrating the sure hand he had with the action sequences in "Ip Man", and is easily the best thing the movie has going for it. Complementing the fluid martial arts choreography (among the choreographers veteran Ma Yuk-Shing) is the impressive visual effects- done post-production in Korea- which only goes to show that the China film industry can very well handle CG as competently as its Hollywood counterparts.

Unfortunately, the hour before this climactic battle is one tedious slog, no thanks to a dreadful script by Cheung Tan (also equally guilty for the Chen Kaige dud 'The Promise'). Not only is the dialogue god-awful and filled with moments of unintentional humour, there is close to little characterisation- be it Chi Xia, Cai Chen, or Sui-Sin. Yip compensates for Cheung's bad scripting with a somewhat frenetic pace, but that's not enough to distract his audience from its flaws and repetitive scenes. Most importantly, the romantic triangle also fails to take off, and remains stuck in cutesy scenes (what's up with the feeding of sweets) that belong in a teenage fantasy. And because one never quite comes to believe in the star-crossed romance between human and demon, the finale also lacks the poignancy of the original.

Equally uninspired is the acting- or rather, the lack of it- on display. Louis Koo attempts to emote as one half in an ill-fated romance, but doesn't quite succeed. Yifei has the beguiling looks to go with her part, but lacks conviction. But the worst of the lot is Mainland actor Yu Shaoqun, who proves time and time again that he simply cannot act (if you've seen last year's Kung Fu Wing Chun, you'll agree too). His portrayal of the shy soft-spoken and good-hearted romantic lover is simply ingratiating and an utter insult to Leslie Cheung's nuanced performance. Ditto for Louis and Yifei, whose acting can't hold a candle to Wu Ma and Joey Wong's in the original.

There are however exceptions- Kara Hui is gleefully campy as the Tree Demon, while Elvis Tsui, who also starred in the original, offers some welcome comic relief as the chief of the village Cai Chen visits. Yet these are little consolation for a movie that never justifies its existence, paling in every respect to Ching Siu-Tong's classic. And the horror of it all? The filmmakers had the audacity to think that their efforts were worthy enough for them to dedicate this film to the late Leslie Cheung!

This was a film that I obtained when I was trying to get the original one. I decided since I already had it to go ahead and check it out anyways. I did end up digging the original and I believe at the time of writing this it's been roughly a year since that viewing. The synopsis for this one is tax collector Ning (Shaoqun Yu), a clumsy and easily frightened man, decides to help a village by going up the nearby mountain. When he and his crew decide to stay in what they think is an abandoned temple, they discover a supernatural evil.

First off, if I credit the wrong character to the incorrect actor/actress, I apologize. The Internet Movie Database names are slightly different from the subtitles on what I watched. We do start this off with a demon hunter, Yan Chixia (Louis Koo). He falls in love with a demon he is supposed to kill, Nie Xiaoqian (Yifei Liu). It turns out to be a test from the master demon hunter, Ha Suet Fun Lui (Siu-Wong Fan). They are trying to destroy a Tree Demon (Kara Wait). Because of Yan's delay, Ha loses an arm. She is banished, threatening to return.

It then shifts into the future. We have Ning Caichen (Yu) as he makes his way through the wilderness. He tries to use a well and is taken prisoner, dropping an amulet. Ti Nga (Jing Li) finds and grabs it. Ning is being treated as a thief by the village chiefs, Elvis Tsui and Hark-On Fung. Ti arrives just in time and they free him. Ning is confused to be help from the capital as this village is experiencing a drought. He is supposed to go up the mountain to fix the water supply. No one will come with him though, out of fear of something supernatural. They're very quiet about what though. Ning is accompanied by Ti and a group of prisoners that are forced.

They come to a large tree and Ning believes there must be water nearby. He finds a small white fox inside of it and gives it a piece of candy. A storm rolls in and the men must seek shelter. They use what they think is an abandoned temple. There's a pool inside of it and Ning starts to test it, to see if this is the answer he is looking for. His men are enticed away by demons that take the form of women. Ning also encounters Nie. She comes on to him pretty aggressive and he rebuffs her. He is smitten though.

All of the men are killed and Yan, who is much older now, arrives and killing many of the demons. Nie and Ning flee from the temple. Ning thinks he is a psychopath. The Tree Demon needs Ning to free herself, but Nie is torn on what to do. Yan tries to prevent her from taking Ning and releasing herself from banishment. The water from the pool in the temple also poisons the town and Ha must come back to destroy the Tree Demon for good.

There's where I want to leave the recap and I should point out there's quite a bit of things that I left out. This movie runs around 100 minutes, but I will say that it never really drug for me. Visually this movie is pretty great if I'm going to be honest. I'm glad that they kept what was done in the original, but just used more of the technology that is available to them.

Since I'm a story guy that is where I want to go first. I'm interested in Chinese history, especially the Three Kingdoms era, but aside from that, I'm pretty green with their lore. Now since I've seen the original and this version, this story is told in very similar ways. It is interesting that their take on demons are just beautiful women that steal men's life-force. We do see that they harbor the more monstrous take that we get in the western world as well. That doesn't come out until provoked or they're killed. It is cool though having the Tree Demon that is powerful and wanting out.

There's also this social commentary here about forbidden love. It starts with Yan whose job it is to kill demons. Nie and him do fall in love in the beginning, but they know they can't be together. That prevents him from killing her though. The Tree Demon toys with this when dealing with Nie when she falls for Ning. With how it plays out in the end, it really does kind of feel like a love story that doesn't have a happy ending. I feel this can be correlated to things like marrying outside of your financial circumstances or race or a multitude of factors. Those are just the more common ones.

Even though I really liked this movie, I still think that it is too long. I'm on board for the set up that we get here. They don't go really that deep into the mythology, but we really don't need it. I do think there are some parts that just run a little bit long without adding a whole lot to the overall product. It does culminate with a pretty epic battle scene, which I'm not going to lie, runs almost 20 minutes. We do get quite a bit of action throughout, but there are just some things that could be tightened up in my eyes.

Shifting this over the acting, I thought it was pretty solid. Koo is great as this demon hunter that has a sense of duty, which I know is important in Asian cultures, and wanting to be with his forbidden lover. He becomes a bitter older man which he does really well. Liu is quite attractive and I liked her in a similar vein as Yan. Yu does great as playing this bumbling guy. It really feels real that he is that guy and there's also an innocence about him that works. Wai is also really good. I love how villainous she is, but I don't hate her completely for whatever reason. She's a demon and she is doing what she is supposed to. She is also utilizing men and their desires which I can't blame her. The rest of the cast is fine in rounding this out for what is needed.

That will take me to the last thing I really wanted to go over which are the effects. Since the original came out 30+ years prior, they decided to use CGI here. I will say there were only a few times that it took me out of things. For the most part, I think they use to enhance aspects and it makes for some beautiful shots. It seems they couple it with the wire work that they were known for. I'm not the biggest fan of it, I will admit that, but I've come to appreciate what they're doing with it. I like the look of the 'demon essence'. The tiny little fox is adorable. Even though there was a few times that I could tell it was CGI. Overall the effects are pretty solid. The cinematography is also beautiful as well.

Now with that said, I'm glad that I decided to actually watch this movie, because I'll be honest, I ended up really enjoying it. It has an interesting story with some commentary behind it. The visuals are pretty amazing even if all of the effects don't necessarily work for me. I'd say the performances from all of the stars were pretty solid and the supporting cast helped to build what they needed. It does run a bit long in my eyes and there's some stuff that could have been trimmed to tighten it up. Aside from that, the soundtrack fit for what they needed as well. I would say that this is above average and a lot of fun. Be warned, this is from China and Hong Kong so I watched it with subtitles on. If that is an issue, avoid this as I don't think you'll enjoy it. If not, it is a fun little film for sure.

A line at the closing credits of this film reads 'In Memory Forever of Leslie Cheung' - acknowledging Cheung's role in the similarly-titled 1987 film as well as its 1990 sequel. Indeed, the 1987 "A Chinese Ghost Story", directed by Ching Siu-Tung in collaboration with producer Tsui Hark, was a landmark movie because its 'crazy' kungfu (and wirefu) effects gimmicks turned it into a cult hit with western (read: international) audiences. Its two sequels (1990 and 1991) were not as popular.

Here, director Wilson Yip claims that it is not a remake but a 'new' love story - and yet many elements of the 1987 film remain.

THE PLOT: Government official Ling Choi Sin (Yu Shao Qun, taking over Leslie Cheung's role) journeys to the parched Black Mountain Village to help its inhabitants find water. As he leads a group of 'volunteers' up the haunted mountain, he encounters a bevy of sexy demons and well as a lovely 'girl' named Siu Sin (Liu Yi-Fei). After wooing her with some candy, he falls for her - and then realizes that he is caught in a deadly triangle: another guy, a demon-hunter named Yan Chek Ha (Louis Koo) is also in love with Siu Sin.

However, before the two men can settle their differences, they have to contend with the evil Tree Demon (Wai Ying-Hung) as well as a one-armed demon hunter (Louis Fan) who is determined to kill all the supernatural beings.

MY REVIEW: The 1987 film has a confusing storyline and even more befuddled action sequences that have become the trademarks of Tsui Hark. Wilson Yip, who gave us the two "Ip Man" films, does not attempt to make the love story (especially the one between Chek Ha and Siu Sin) more plausible - or try to 'rationalise' the action sequences. Indeed, some of the fighting scenes are more comical than magical and the acting appear over-the-top. Liu Yi-Fei (left) fits the bill as the Enchantress of the forest but I wish she can evoke more emotions besides pouting and winking her eyes.

It is a good thing that Pu Song Ling's story has been adapted on the screen many times before, since "The Enchanting Shadow" (directed by Li Han Hsiang) in the early 1960s. That way, the plot is familiar to many in the audience and they need not rely on the flimsy narrative.

It is a remake, of sort. What I mean is that the main framework of the plot remains the same but there are surprises and new love relationships invented (which I won't spoil) for this version. Sounds good, right? Well, it could have been, if the Ip Man's director had actually spent some effort to search for charismatic leads to replace the iconic Leslie Cheung & Joey Wong. But their replacements are god awful, absolutely bland, wooden, and commonplace; in another word, ZERO star quality. The new plot inventions are interesting and could have made this version stand a tiny little bit apart from the original so audience won't negatively compare it with the excellent original; however, the 2 bad leads chosen sink any slim hope it has to achieve that. There are some inventive fight choreography but it is balanced out by the insensible and confusing editing. It's edited like the worst kind of music video, lots of quick cross cutting that results in a big hot mess. It is pretty much a waste of time, money, and effort.

Apparently this movie is a remake of another film by the same name which was distributed sometime in the 80's. Since I haven't seen the initial film I cannot compare it with this particular movie. Adding to my difficulties is the fact that the characters listed on IMDb are not the same characters that were in the movie. For example, the beautiful ghost played by Yifei Liu went by the name of "Siu Sin" and not "Nie Xiaoquin". No doubt the translation from Chinese to English has much to do with this. Additionally, the English subtitles on this film weren't of the highest caliber which helped only to a limited degree towards resolving what was clearly a strange and confusing movie to begin with. Be that as it may, from what I have figured out Siu Sin is a ghost who has been enslaved by a "Tree Demon" (similar to a succubus) named "Lou Lou" (Kara Hui). As a result Siu Sin is forced to seduce people who enter Lou Lou's temple on Black Mountain and then sucks the energy out of them--which in turn allows Lou Lou to gain strength. One day a demon hunter named ""Yan Chek Ha" (Louis Koo) appears and falls in love with Siu Sin. But in doing so he destroys his reputation with his master which causes him to go into isolation. A while later a minor government official named "Ning Caichen" (Shaoqun Yu) journeys to Black Mountain in search of water and finds Siu Sin in the temple. She initially attempts to seduce him but fails because of his innocence. This makes Lou Lou quite angry but before she can do anything about it Yan Chek Ha returns to Black Mountain with a vengeance of his own. Now, while it's quite possible that I may have missed something in translation I still enjoyed the movie for the most part. It had plenty of action and the CGI complemented the movie in a major way. There was also some good humor here and there as well. Likewise, it didn't hurt to have such a beautiful actress like Yifei Liu in a prominent role either. Again, it's a bit confusing but those who enjoy a decent Fantasy film might want to give this one a look. Over all, I rate it as slightly above average.