Huang jin da jie an

I sat down to watch Guns N' Roses on opening day in Ningbo, China. From the opening, it seemed like it would be a crime drama with a comedic touch a la Jacky Chan. However, the Manchurian setting combined with the clichéd bad guys (the Japanese are always bad guys in Chinese films)and the very unpredictable love story make this film both comedic and dramatic. I would call it a comedic version of Indiana Jones starring Jacky Chan with some unconventional twists. I watched it twice in the theatre and now own it on DVD. There are some serious flaws, the most serious being some of the awful computer graphics used at the end of the film. However, all in all, it is a gem of a film.

Watched this film on Mother's Day with mom and auntie, and my first Chinese film in 2012 from the young talented sensation, Hao Ning, who has been acclaimed as the savior of the contemporary Chinese film mishap because of his sleeper hit CRAZY STONE (2006), a low- budget crime-comedy, which combines the acumen of Guy Ritchie's gangster hotchpotch and provincial domestic slapstick.

But his previous work WESTERN SUNSHINE (2010) has been left on the shelf owing to the ill- fated disapproval from the bureau censorship (the reason behind is a moot point), and hasn't been released yet, so GUNS N'ROSES seems to be a vital correction to cater for a safe passage for the market and one should doubt the content of compromise's existence and what's more essential, how much?

The film is medium letdown when juxtaposed with CRAZY STONE, the narrative is shrunk into a straightforward rite-of-passage of a young man's identity swap from street hooligan to a revolutionist, while unfortunately being cliché-ridden and Ning's comedic flicker pops up rather occasionally, which is the major setback, also aside from Jianyin Lei's protagonist, other character depiction is quite stereotyped and all the lines are by and large plain and moderately kitschy.

Obviously Ning has learnt a good lesson to acquire the survive principle of the game, and the film is generally acceptable and is able to entertain a considerable size of local audience, blending tragedy and comedy is a delicate job, Ning's capacity is adequate but it is sheerly not satisfactory according to his surging domestic fame. But its box-office boost is a precious outcome being against Hollywood mega-invader THE AVENGERS (2012), which shows that Ning has firmly built up his own brand successfully and his successive moves are more arresting than the film itself, anyway, so far so good!