Ngai sing

I liked the lead actors a lot. I thought they all did a good job, as opposed to the usual Chinese acting in movies in the genre. And I thought the basic concept of the film was great! There is this evil killer that just gets put in jail in the first part of the story, but then the fact that he is an important political figure starts to stir all kinds of things. It was almost a censure of the Chinese political system.

However, this is where the good things end. The plot was convoluted enough to never learn much about the individual characters, thus they are hard to empathize with. Time management isn't great either. Half of the movie happens in a day and the second is not clear, since a guy has time to travel with children to the capital and back and save the day. The kung-fu was minimal and still a bit too much. For example there is a scene where they destroy all munitions so that they have the opportunity to fight hand to hand.

Bottom line: it was enjoyable and I liked the underlying message, but the film was pretty bland.

Note: Check me out as the "Asian Movie Enthusiast" on YouTube, where I review tons of Asian movies.

Set in 1914 following the collapse of the Ching dynasty, the film tells the story of a group of villagers (lead by Lau Ching Wan and Eddie Peng) who stand up to a cruel young warlord's son (played by Louis Koo) who is protected by a Commander (played by Wu Jing) with proficient martial arts skills as well as a small army. Our main protagonist, the whip-wielding militia captain Yang (Lau Ching Wan's character) has guarded his remote hometown for years, and he alone now stands between the village and this ruthless band of troops who are loyal to the warlord who has been wreaking death and destruction in the region. One morning, the warlord's son saunters into the village and kills a few people, but is quickly captured and prepped for execution. But before the execution can commence, Wu Jing's character shows up and gives the village a deadline to either voluntarily release the warlord's son or face slaughter.

I found the premise interesting because the warlord's son is captured by the villagers very early on, forcing them to decide on whether or not they should execute him. This conflict is at the center of the film for basically the entire runtime – and it's not an easy decision when you put yourself in their place. And most fortunately, this film does take the time to establish the dramatic aspects of everything. "Call of Heroes" isn't just a brainless, dumb action movie. It actually has some character depth and builds anticipation for the action scenes.

It's also anchored by a very good cast, all of whom nail their characters and are fun to watch. Lau Ching Wan has been carrying movies in lead roles for ages, so he's just as reliable as he's always been. If you want some recommendations with him, I would point you to "Lost In Time", "Mad Detective", "The Longest Nite", and "A Hero Never Dies." Louis Koo – who I've covered a bunch of times already on this YouTube channel – is good as the slimy, sadistic bad guy, and his over-the-top performance works. Eddie Peng is an actor who I always enjoy seeing, and here he plays a character who really does not care about the villagers at first but eventually comes to their aid when he sees the injustices they must endure. Some other Eddie Peng titles I would recommend are "Unbeatable" and "To the Fore." And finally, Wu Jing is a convincing villain who is not purely evil like Louis Koo's character. On the contrary, Wu Jing's character simply has a warped set of principles and life philosophies. So it's nice to have four lead characters who are distinguishable from one another, and add something different to the story.

With regard to the action, it is of a good quality. It mostly showcases hand-to-hand combat that is impressive and spaced out nicely, with the finale representing the best set piece. I was particularly surprised that Eddie Peng moves very well for an actor without martial arts background. He has a convincing "fighting presence" that helps to sell the action. A lot of the fights have a hard-hitting, impactful feel to them. But I will say that there is some CGI that is used at times. For example, Lau Ching Wan's whip will occasionally be CGI'd. Also, the ending has one bigger CGI shot, which is a little distracting but I thought it was no big deal. Overall, I was definitely satisfied with the quality of action in this film.

So "Call of Heroes" is definite crowd-pleaser by director Benny Chan. And for some odd reason, I've seen Benny Chan's name before, but I never took the time to check out his filmography. Listen to this resume of highlights: Big Bullet (1996), Who Am I? (1998), Heroic Duo (2003), New Police Story (2004), Invisible Target (2007), Connected (2008), and Shaolin (2011). He's made some other stuff too, but he's contributed enough entertaining action movies to be given special consideration by me. Which means that I will be following him and looking forward to whatever he does next. One thing that I really like about Benny Chan's films – outside of the high octane action itself – is that he seems to have a knack for pacing action flicks. His movies flow very well and rarely feel bogged down or tedious. One reason for this is that he spaced out the action scenes throughout the runtime, but he's also good at showing the development of conflicts and characters enough to bridge the fights. As a viewer, you don't feel like you're just sitting around, waiting for the next action scene. And that's a good thing.

The leading actors are splendid...but they don't want to fight like this...

"Call of Heroes" is an entertaining wuxia film with cool characters and good enough action scenes that help overcome its shortcomings (they being bad acting, in the overacting category, thin as they come plot, and a too long running time).

The army has left Pucheng undefended to fight in the war, and the local governance is in the hands of the local militia and its leader, Colonel Yeung. Cho, the son of a military governor, who seems to just go around for the sake of killing people, gets to the city, and after doing some of his nasty stuff (so, killing innocents), is put in prison by Colonel Yeung, guilty of murder and condemned to die at the next day's sunrise. Cho's army will try to stop this.

You can see almost every plot development, fight and showdown in "Call of Heroes" from moment one. You know who will fight against whom, and how the plot will develop. However, director Chan and everyone involved do a great job with the rhythm and the pace and the little scenes between fights, to keep things fresh and including one or two little twists that make things feel original enough. The use of locations in the fights, and the cool action direction by Sammo Hung (who gives himself a blind-and-you-will-miss-it cameo) makes for really good showdowns every moment the tension rises and the action unleashes.

It helps that we have here some of the most famous faces in Hong Kong action movies. Ching Wan Lau as Colonel Yeung does a great job in the 'I-am-a-calm-and-stable-leader' mold. But the movie belongs to Eddie Peng and he embodies the hero of the story in a too-cool-to-be-true manner. His acting may look simple (raising eyebrows and little smiles), but it fits the character perfectly, and makes the viewer connect with Ma Fung, elevating the character to one of those you would like to see at least in a couple more movies. The same cannot be said of Louis Koo's Cho Siu-lun, Louis Koo having taking a page of the 'unleashed Jim Carrey' school of acting. Louis Koo munches his dialogue as if he was hyper after having two litters of coffee and half a pound of chocolate. He is probably having too much fun with the character, but it makes the viewer disconnect from the story, as the histrionics go to a level not much seen before.

"Call of Heroes" is a very entertaining movie, that is not trying to reinvent the wheel, but just entertain the viewer. And the fan of the genre will probably enjoy it.

The story is too straight without any guile. Set in 1914 following the collapse of the Qing dynasty, the film tells the story of a group of villagers standing up to a cruel young warlord. It stands knee deep in hero-talk, melodrama and posturing. The story is not memorable but it hearkens me back to the Shaw classic no-nonsense wuxia films of the yester-years. Those are great years.

Sean Lau, the ever dependable actor, makes all the skull-numbing hero-speeches feel like nuggets of wisdom. Eddie Peng actually has a slight breakthrough with his wandering hobo character, adding delightful charm and comic relief. Wu Jing, who proved in SPL 2 that he can carry a movie on his own, puts in an unstated performance. His and Peng's back story is one of the highlights of the movie. Louis Koo, probably HK's busiest actor, lays on the ham with extra cheese and froth. His portrayal of the warlord nearly crosses into parody. But please take my words with a pinch of salt because I probably don't know anything. When Koo finally gets his comeuppance, the people around me were actually cheering.

The one thing I hate the most in kungfu movies is the CGI-created landscape and all the impossible kungfu moves made possible by CGI. Special effects is the shite in martial arts films. Call of Heroes doesn't do that and it is good old action stunt work and wire-fu. Sammo Hung's action choreography here is excellent. There are two particular set-pieces, a fight on a bamboo-cage bridge and one on a mountain of clay urns, that are stand-outs.

The studios don't make movies like this anymore - a stand-up and be counted old- fashioned wuxia flick.