Lung foo moon

Adapting comic book story lines into feature films is not new in Hong Kong, and adapting styles from how Hollywood does things, isn't new to the industry either. The opening credits of the comic-book flipping sequence seem to announce that this movie is aping the standards set on comic book films in the West, as well as to set expectations straight that whatever is played out is pure fantasy, not Oscar winning material.

Dragon Tiger Gate is sheer Hong Kong fantasy martial arts indulgence. Not every movie in this genre makes the grade though. Feng Yun (Stormriders) was probably the pioneer with its fusion of fantasy martial arts moves and special effects, but while it proved successful at the box office, purist condemned (don't they always)the storyline for bastardizing and summarizing its rich pulp history beyond recognition. It's tough to extract the essence into a 90 minute movie, and others like Zhong Hua Ying Xiong (A Man Called Hero) failed miserably, even with its effects which turned out laughable.

The effects in Dragon Tiger Gate has shown a lot of improvement where Hong Kong movies are concerned, with digitized landscapes blending perfectly in scenes. The fights were effectively enhanced with plenty of CG, as well as good old reliable wirework. But nothing beats having well choreographed fist fights (by Donnie Yen) or just unadulterated martial arts showcase of skills such as the use of the nunchakus. Jazzed up with a Japanese influenced soundtrack, the action bits are the highlight of the movie, as the rest of the dialogue laden scenes were insipid and unfortunately applied too much brakes on the pace of the movie.

Donnie Yen and Nicholas Tse play brothers Dragon and Tiger (in Chinese mythology, this combination is very fierce, OK?) and together with their friend Black Dragon (Shawn Yue), they make good commercial role models for hair gel. OK, so I can't help it but to poke some fun at their long hair in the movie, providing ample opportunity for the use of what I call the hair- dryer effect - Strike a killer pose, cue strong wind to blow their hair from their face.

Tiger belongs to an aged old martial arts school known as Dragon Tiger Gate, while Dragon, separated from Tiger when young, gets involved with triads work, against his principles. Black Dragon on the other hand, is a braggart who became humbled when he visits Dragon Tiger Gate to learn new skills. Together, they go up against a Japanese secret society headed by a formidable villain called Shibumi.

There are plenty of elements typical of a Hong Kong action movie, especially with the relationships with the opposite sex, like the token evil female character Luosha who falls in love with Dragon, in an uninspiring romance bit with a self-sacrificial theme, as well as the token goody-two-shoes female character Ma Xiaoling, the daughter of Dragon's triad benefactor who finds Tiger attractive.

The much touted Guiness Book of World Records sandbag, was much ado about nothing. All it had was a brief 10 second appearance, from a wide angled shot which does not do justice to its enormous size, and then quickly forgotten.

If given the opportunity, I won't mind watching this again just for the action bits and fast forwarding through the slow dialogue pieces. Also, watching it in its original Cantonese track will always be preferred, and in this one, Louis Koo actually provided the voice-over for the chief villain. Talk about unknowns providing the Mandarin voiceovers. Yuck.

A few recent movies have raised the bar for Hong Kong action cinema. Aside from the obvious "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" which introduced a moving plot and quality acting to the genre, "Ong Bak" raised the stakes for action by replacing gracefully balletic Wu Shu fights with acrobatic but brutal, hard-hitting action. Similarly, the Korean movie "Fighter in the Wind" also followed the hard hitting formula but added stylish camera-work to the mix. Luckily, "Dragon Tiger Gate" shows that Hong Kong kung fu cinema does have the skills to match these foreign usurpers.

The first thing that jumps out at the viewer is the rather contrived but undeniably stylish air of "cool" that surrounds the lead characters with their snappy streetwear and (quite amusing) emo haircuts. These guys are ass kicking metrosexuals! Luckily they ass-kick very well! Following the Ong Bak formula, the opening fight scene shows foot hitting face with real force and the fighting style replaces the graceful wu shu of traditional Hong Kong cinema with something that looks more like Japanese karate or one of the harder, external forms of kung fu - not much posing or flowery stances but lots of straight to the point slamming strikes.

So the film looks great and the fights are cool - how about the plotting? Crouching Tiger standard? Of course not! It's a standard formula about estranged brothers on different sides of the tracks coming back together to defeat evil. But this really isn't the kind of movie where the plotting makes much difference (and, to be honest, when Hong Kong cinema tries intricate plotting you usually get an over-long and unfollowable movie, so fair play to them for keeping it simple!) - what you really want is quality fighting and stylish visuals and this movie more than delivers. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it to kung fu movie fans.

Comics-simple good vs evil. Fantastic three-way marriage of state-of-the-art CGI, clever montages and absolutely first class martial arts action (at least on Donnie Yen's part). Nicholas Tse at his cutest. Shawn Yue at his coolest. Donnie Yen always at his very best, and he IS the best. Beautiful and sometimes imaginative photography. Two Mainland actresses with faces that are very easy on the eyes and not bad in the acting department. And the sound! All add up to a super summer entertainment package. Highly recommended.

Just to given some balance, it's slightly odd to see 43-year-old Donnie Yen as 26-year-old Nicholas Tse's elder brother who is supposed to be just a few years older. Good makeup and lighting helps. Also, permit me to draw the analogy of having an absolutely top-notch, middle-age and slightly plump soprano singing the role of a slim, young girl in an opera. In the entertainment business, for excellence in one line, sometimes a little compromise is inevitable. Did you see Kevin Spacey's scene as a teenage Bobby Darin in "Beyond the Sea"?

Finally, ignore the "Plot outline" in IMDb. I'm sure it was contributed with good intentions. But the comics "Dragon Tiger Gate" has been around for decades and what the movie has done is just borrowed some of the key characters and put them into a story that barely has a plot. And who needs a plot anyway?

Getting off to a very Marvel-like start should be enough of a hint that here's a comic book adaptation, in this event a conversion of an identically-titled HK staple. Similar to a multitude of other martial arts action fiestas, Dragon Tiger Gate espouses a mix of sentiment and beat 'em up orchestration that leaves it lingering on the average end of the dial.

Firstly, a word on the CG effects, used mostly in delivering a pseudo-Hong Kong metropolis that's seldom seen, yet overall manages to keep in tune with the urban, almost post-apocalyptic visage required in superhero stories. Technically, DTG looks quite good until you proceed to pay attention, and realize one especially long shot of the city basically takes digitizations of real-world skyscrapers, mixes them up and hopes for the best. This kind of amateurish shortcut doesn't become an otherwise professional production.

But aside from several visual faux pas, DTG's other irony is that the plentiful emotional segments really work much better than its action bits, which is somewhat odd in a fighting extravaganza. Uniquely enough, it's easy to become enthralled by the emotive content more so than with Donnie Yen's fight choreography, and despite submitting more than a mere sample of tacky clichés, the film nonetheless packs a touching punch far more formidable than its roundhouse kick.

And make no mistake, it's all about Donnie Yen, fresh from success with crime-noir number SPL (also directed by Wilson Yip), and less triumphant moments in Seven Swords and Hero. Surely, Yen's genuine martial arts prowess and good-guy charm come charging in on top of making movies like Dragon Inn and Iron Monkey so memorable, but in DTG he's in weaker form. Having said that, co-starring hunks Nicholas Tse and Shawn Yue (Infernal Affairs trilogy) fall far short of eclipsing yen, indeed living up to their roles as his subordinates.

The trio delivers Dragon Tiger Gate's pivotal triumvirate of characters, Yen as Wong Siu Long (Little Dragon), a master fighter employed by benevolent underworld boss Kun (one has to love those kindly mobsters). When Kun's empire comes under attack from mysteriously evil overlord Shibumi (Yan Kung), Siu Long's enrolled in the cause, particularly since it involves protecting fragile Kun daughter Xiaoling (Dong Jie, who's grown a lot since Zhang Yimou's Happy Times).

Help for struggling Siu Long emerges from leftfield in the form of two fighters also trained in eponymous kung fu academy Dragon Tiger Gate. Wong Siu Fu (Tiger Wong, done by reformed badboy Nicholas Tse) and Shek Hak Long (charismatic Shawn Yue's Turbo Shek) both lend a helping hand. All receive a proper thrashing until realizing several internal issues and consigning themselves to the sacrifice one must offer in the name of goodness. Thus, DTG follows a path previously tread by the likes of Teenage Mutant Ninjas, since here too a goofy master bestows magical supernatural powers in a scene that comes across out of place.

As entire gangs of underworld henchmen and enough home décor for a Home Depot/IKEA combination megastore are demolished, the movie intersperses its action and borderline-sci fi atmosphere with back story, revealing the hurt that brought many of the characters together. These function well in spite of being ostensibly trite, extending to the story's most alluring persona, ambivalent beauty Rosa, who's affection for Siu Long conflicts with working for arch-rival Shibumi. Gorgeous Li Xiao Ran renders this troubled individual with flying colors, proving almost on a par with Maggie Cheung's double agent role in Moon Warriors all those years back.

Yet capable melodrama and a few acceptably strong performances do not suffice in qualifying Dragon Tiger Gate the classic. It may be often confused with Wuxia heyday masterpiece Dragon Gate Inn (1992), but rest assured a gulf separates the two. Toned-down, unimaginative moves come as a surprise from Yen, veteran of so many martial arts bonanzas himself, and the story in general does little to transcend the formulaic.

This is another major native East Asian comic book transition onto the silver screen that fails in many respects, following abysmal Initial D last summer. While blissfully not as bad, Dragon Tiger Gate has very little to recommend it beyond a few choice moments, and even those take it only so far, a predicament familiar to viewers from previous high-profile releases also afflicted with dud syndrome: Legend of Zu, Avenging Fist and Black Mask 2 all come to mind.

The hunt for a summer 2006 mastery of things action continues, and in the meantime, perhaps Dragon Tiger Gate aficionados can bide their time patiently for a hopefully reinforced home video release.

Rating: * * *

I had been looking forward to Dragon Tiger Gate since even before its Asian theatrical release. Same director (Wilson Yip) and action choreographer (Donnie Yen) as Sha Po Lang (aka Killzone on your videostore walls), and also once again co-starring Donnie Yen. It also stars Shawn Yue (who I don't know) and Nicholas Tse, who I've been assured many times by my friend Kim is a uber-hottie. This one was definitely just a straight-up action movie with visual effects to emphasize the coolness factor. I enjoy the occasional flashy action movie, and actually really got into this one, characters and all. Instead of saying much about plot, let's just say that 2 of the 3 leads are brothers who hadn't seen each other in a long time, and they team up with a new friend to kick some bad guy ass. Not for those of you who hate unrealistic action. Though I always enjoy seeing Donnie Yen kick a guy so hard he flies 20 feet back and through a wall.

Dragon Tiger Gate had nominations at this year's Hong Kong film awards for action choreography and visual effects.