Hua pi

Ever since his early "Dragon Inn" days, Donnie Yen has had a commanding screen presence. In his more recent movies, he always plays himself - strong, violent, a believer in rough justice - and he always delivers great action scenes. He's the only reason to watch this film to the end. He makes the most of his screen time, which regrettably is not anywhere near as much as one wishes.

The film is chugging along great when about halfway through, it just abruptly runs out of plot. In order to fill the remaining time, the actors suddenly start moving and talking incredibly slowly. I thought there was something wrong with my computer. It has to be seen to be believed. Donnie Yen is the only one immune to this strange infection, but sadly, he is not permitted to carry the film by himself.

From what I can remember, the actual story was not really about love. It was just another ghost story in that famous book. Unlike those typical scary ghost movies, this movie is more about love.

The music was Hollywood like. It has been a few days since I watched it. So I can't call it fantastic or not. Actually, the whole movie felt so different than those typical Chinese movie, the color, the sceneries, etc, they look very western.

The costumes look exotic, and colorful. I didn't know that the Lizard man actually was a lizard until after I watched the DVD extra. The make-up artists could have made his face and body more lizard like. And when Xiao wei turned all white at the end of the movie, her face reminds me of the Japanese movie "Grudge". Chinese ghosts typically don't look like that according to the traditional Chinese cultures.

Zhao Wei was excellent. I have seen her in other movies. She is entirely different in this movie.

If your ideal fantasy genre contains unrelenting action and adventure, Painted Skin may not be the title for you. But, if you're looking for a beautiful dramatic romance, that is as poetic as it is entertaining, you will not be disappointed.

Written in an intelligently mature fashion, and performed with emotional poignancy, Painted Skin is quite unlike its American contrasts, with stories of battlers fought for love occasionally becoming lost in bloody violence and nudity. This Chinese feature delivers a tasteful approach, that sacrifices in your face thrills and excitement, for a gripping character driven tale of unrequited romance.

General Sheng returns home with his army after defeating barbarians infringing on his borders, bringing a beautiful young woman he rescued with him. His wife is immediately suspicious of the young woman, and becomes more so when her former paramour, Yong, a soldier turned nomad, returns to the city at the same time as gorgeous demon hunter, Xia, both firmly believing the woman is not who she claims.

There is, without a doubt, more to the mysterious woman, Xiao, than meets the eye, though any accusations are rendered preposterous in the eyes of those who appreciate her. With suspicion and paranoia mounting, Yong and Xia begin investigating, only to find themselves in the middle of a battle, plagued by conspiracy, jealously, betrayal and lust.

Although there are a number of astounding action sequences, Painted Skin is more of a cat and mouse thriller, with many of the fights taking place in conversations, where one character is always trying to outwit the other. At its heart, the film reveals that no sacrifice is too great when you love someone, both the script and the actors capturing the emotion perfectly, from the beauty of romance, to the grueling pain of loss.

Unlike in other films, where demons are purely villainous antagonists, Painted Skin makes demons and humans alike sympathetic characters, with breakable hearts, and many a vulnerability, the seductive storyline between man and demon being similar to the fourth Hellraiser. With this in mind, though a sex scene is apparent, nothing is ever seen, the tasteful directional style presenting the audience with all of the passion, but not at the expense of the actor's privacy.

With outstanding special effects that draw you further into the plot, alongside a soundtrack that mirrors the turmoil and romance exhibited in the film, Painted Skin is a perfect fantasy that you do not want to miss.

Tagline: Revoking the days of A Chinese Ghost Story…

Review by Neo: The ultra screen beauty of the early 1990s was undeniably the ambassador of ghost/romance movies, Joey Wong. Its been a long time coming since those comedy/spooky/ghostly/romance/action genre. The good news is that The Painted Skin's ability to revoke those kind of unique feelings, while the end product may not be the same. That's not to say The Painted Skin is not a good movie, as the current reviewer thoroughly enjoyed the ride, but in the end, it just feels a little too forgettable. Carried by the consistently good actress in Zhou Xun (who have now developed a reputation for being head and shoulder above her given material) who attempts to follow the foot step of Joey Wong and adding to the pot of fire is an equally impressive return to form by Vicky Xiao Wei. Perhaps the downside is easily Alloy Chen (Playboy Cops) who appears to be miscasted in a role born to be played by say, Liu Ye (Connected). Adding to the mix is the overacting of Donnie Yen (who is intentionally funny by overacting, rather than in Seven Swords where his limited emotional range became more laughable than all the jokes added up together in that flick.

In many ways, Painted Skin feels like The Promise, it allows the audience to totally disband their beliefs and escape into another world, namely a "dream". While Neo was one of the few people who actually liked the uneven and largely acclaimed "disappointment", The Promise. The Painted Skin fares even between and sometimes it is just fun to live within a dream. Perhaps fans of action cinema would have expected more, as one would expect in a Donnie Yen's flick. In fact, this isn't a Donnie Yen film where he grins, kicks ass and ultimately kick more asses, but rather, at its core, a love story, a light hearted genre mixture of action, ghosts and comedy. Quite simply revoking those days when movies like A Chinese Ghost Story are still in existence. Then again, when a movie leaves you thinking about Joey Wong, it really can't be half bad.

There is no doubt that Mainland starlet, Zhou Xun is a shinning star. Ever since Neo first associated with Zhou Xun in Fruit Chan's Hollywood Hong Kong, he knew that there was something special and her display in Peter Chan's Perhaps Love enhanced her reputation to mainstream Hong Kong cinema. Although Zhou Xun does not possess the sweetest voice, her vocal is distinctive, easily recognizable and really something of an acquired taste. Her looks are pretty, but pale in-comparsion to compatriot Fan Bing Bing. Still her acting, her screen chemistry, her sheer screen presence makes Zhou Xun easily one of the better actress in Hong Kong cinema now. Here, she performs to perfection, the cross between humanity and evil, and her ability to allow the audience to sympathesis with her character is not something that everyone can achieve. Cliché and cheesy as the finale may seem to be, the current reviewer is leaning towards liking it.

If there is one aspect about reviewing movies that Neo enjoys is the part where he gets to talk about performances. I fondly remember way back in 2005, Koma provided a moment for two acting queens in Karena Lam and Angelica Lee and likewise, Painted Skins goes head to head with Zhou Xun and Zhao Wei. The Shaolin Soccer girl (Zhao Wei) performs more than admirably and certainly a triumphant return to form. In arguably a much more difficult role than her counterpart, she still manages to engage the audience and maintain some believability within the dream.

Donnie Yen has come a long way since those Shanghai Affairs and Legend of the Wolf days, but it is not surprising that while his screen presence has increased dramatically, the same cannot be said about his acting. Luckily, The Painted Skin does not require Yen to act and the result is one of Yen's better comedic display in recent years. Remember the time when Yen tried to emotes in Seven Swords, it was unintentionally laughable, here, Yen deliberately overacts and the effect is the audience laughing with him, rather than at him. As for Alloy Chen, it just goes without saying that he still have a few notches behind the girls. Perhaps his good looks overshadowed his already non-existent performance. While it is adequate, there are not sparks and his chemistry with Zhao Wei comes up lacking. Fearless's Betty Sun makes her second film and passes with flying colours. Her lively performance, brighten up the film in all corners and somehow manages to romance with the "non-romance-able" Donnie Yen.

All in all, Painted Skin ends up being good cinema, due largely to the performances of the two leading actresses. There is no doubt that Skin gains even more sympathy points for alluding to those early 90s genre movies. So what's wrong with Painted Skin, maybe you can argue about the lack of action, lack of a storyline or even the believability factor. However, Neo seems to think otherwise, as Painted Skin feels like a dream. Not entirely a successful movie, but certainly any movie that reminds the current reviewer of the sheer beauty of Joey Wong, really can't be too bad… (Neo 2009)

I rate it 7.5/10

• www.thehkneo.com

I recently saw this at the 2009 Palm Springs International Film Festival. I didn't know quite what to expect of it but being Hong Kong's official entry to the 81st Acadmy Awards I thought it may be of some value. This film is adapted from the 300 year old classic ghost story of Song Ling Pu and is a combination of historical romance, supernatural and martial arts from director Gordon Chan who also wrote the screenplay along with Abe Kwong and Lau Ho Leung with action scenes directed by Wei Tung. Yong (Donnie Yen) is China's best warrior. His former love Peirong (Wei Zhao) is now married to Wang Sheng (Ken Chen) the commander of the armies. In a raid on desert bandits the beautiful Xiao Wei is taken into the armies custody and she takes a liking to Wang Sheng but Peirong stands in her way. Mysterious grizzly deaths start happening and soon Xia-Bing (Betty Sun) a tough female hunter of demons shows up. Xiao Yi (David Leong) is the mysterious supernatural companion to the beautiful but deadly Xiao Wei. This is an entertaining story and makes for a great debut film for director Chan. Great cinematography from Arthur Wong and a great visual setting from the art department of art director bill Liv and production designer Chung Man Yee. A co-production of Hong Kong with China and Singapore it's a little drawn out but worth seeing. I would give it a 7.5 and recommend it.