Dragon Gate, La légende des sabres volants

During the Ming dynasty, the corrupt imperial eunuchs are using their powers to wrongly accuse government officials and taking over the country. The eunuchs are divided into the old East Bureau and the newer West Bureau as the emperor's all knowing spies. Zhao Huai'an (Jet Li) defeats the dictatorial leaders of the East Bureau. The West Bureau led by Yu is more skilled and chases after Zhao Huai'an. The Emperor's chief concubine Wan refuses to let any other maids get pregnant. Pregnant maid Su Huirong escapes and gets rescued by a Zhao Huai'an impostor. Zhao Huai'an sees his impostor and Su Huirong chased by the West Bureau. They head out west and end up in the desert outpost Dragon Gate during a sand storm. There they find bandits, Mongols, crooks, thieves, and rumors of a hidden treasure.

This starts off as a battle between Zhao Huai'an and eunuch Yu. However the story keeps adding characters. It's not incomprehensible but it is a disjointed way of story telling. The movie has plenty of CGI fights and big scenes. I'm willing to go with it until the various groups gather at Dragon Gate and I'm forced to more or less give up. It becomes a mess and I stop caring about half the people in this movie.

Who better to attempt the world's first 3D 'wuxia' movie than Tsui Hark- the man is behind some of the genre's most iconic representations like 'The Swordsman', 'Green Snake' and 'Zu Warriors from the Magic Mountain', and with the latter also a pioneer for introducing Hollywood- style special effects to Chinese cinema. It seems befitting therefore that almost thirty years later, Tsui Hark should be the one to import the latest Hollywood fad for the same genre- and true enough, the veteran director's maiden effort at the third dimension is nothing less than impressive.

Like James Cameron, Tsui brings his considerable experience as a director to bear on the use of 3D to immerse his viewer into his cinematic vision. Gimmicks aside (yes, you'll still find all kinds of flying objects- wooden beams, arrows, knives and swords- coming straight at you), Tsui crafts each shot- static or moving- meticulously to create depth in every one of them and provide raison d'etre for the use of 3D. Tsui has of course had some generous help from Hollywood expert Chuck Comisky (who oversaw the visual effects for 'Avatar'), and the result is a milestone for the 'wuxia' genre as well as for Chinese cinema.

Alas for all its technical achievements, this loose remake of his classic 'New Dragon Gate Inn' unfortunately is let down by more conventional elements like plot and character. As with his earlier movie, the setup here is also the gathering of three disparate groups of individuals at a trading post in the middle of the desert. On one hand, there is the vigilante Zhao Huai'an (Jet Li), Zhao's female equivalent Ling Lanqiu (Zhou Xun), as well as a runaway palace maid Su (Mavis Fan) impregnated by the Emperor and therefore an assassination target by the Empress to preserve the lineage. On the other, there are the formidable Western Bureau troops, led by their fearsome commander Yu Huatian (Chen Kun), who have been sent by the Empress to kill Su and eliminate those opposed to the reigning monarchy.

The pursuit of the latter for the former leads their paths to cross with a ragtag group of bandits in search of ancient treasure buried under the sand near the inn. The advent of a once-in-60-years major sandstorm is supposed to unearth the treasure, and among those waiting to get a share of the riches are Gu Shaotang (Li Yuchun), Yu Huatian's doppelganger White Blade (also Chen Kun) as well as an intimidating Tartar warrior princess Buludu (Gwai Lun Mei) and her band of loutish tribesmen. Setting up such a sheer number of characters takes time, and a good half-hour is spent on exposition detailing these individuals and their relationships with each other. The effect of this after an exciting first half-hour watching Zhao assassinate the leader of the Eastern Front (Gordon Liu) and then finding himself outmatched by Yu is like adding a lead weight to the proceedings, so much so that what momentum the film had going for it is almost completely lost.

Perhaps even more significant is that Jet Li is practically absent during this half-hour, and by the time he does reappear to join in the action-packed finale, it's too late for any significant characterisation to allow his crusading warrior Zhao Huai'an to rise above the fray. There is a past romance hinted at with Zhou Xun's Ling, but Tsui provides too little elaboration on it- and if Jet Li's Zhao is thinly drawn, you can pretty much guess that the rest of the characters also suffer the same fate.

Not only does this first reunion of Tsui Hark and Jet Li outside the 'Once Upon A Time in China' series fail to create a cinematic icon like Wong Fei-Hung, it also gives Jet Li surprisingly little to do in the action department. As if hemmed in by the movie's title, Jet Li is almost always duelling only with his swords while performing some gravity-defying flight through the air, with ultimately too little of the lightning-quick hand-to-hand combat we've come to love about the action star. Not to say that Yuen Bun's action choreography doesn't thrill (it does, especially with Tsui's ability to direct elaborate action sequences), but one hopes that Yuen (who was also behind Tsui's 'New Dragon Gate Inn' back in 1992)- and his co-choreographers Lan Ha Han and Sun Jiankui- had exploited Jet Li's martial arts prowess for more.

While it fails to capitalise on its key asset (i.e. Jet Li), the film does deliver some thrilling action sequences that blend old-school choreography with modern-day CG wizardry- the showdown between Zhao and Yu right in the middle of a raging sandstorm is an excellent example of this combination. Amid the wire-ful stunts, the excellently staged swordplay stands out- and it is Zhou Xun, rather than Jet Li, who impresses with her elegant moves. Kudos too to Choi Sung-fai's fluid cinematography and Yau Chi-wan's deft editing in all the elaborately staged action sequences- especially one which seamlessly intercuts between the action inside the inn and below the inn when the triumvirate first converge.

In terms of visual spectacle, Tsui Hark is definitely at the top of his game, both the action choreography and the initiation of 3D into the 'wuxia' genre easily establishing itself as one of the must-see classics. Nonetheless, for all its technical achievements, this latest reworking of the 'Dragon Inn' mythology is let down by its poorly drawn characters and at times its frenetic over-plotting of deceptions and double-crosses. And even as Tsui has more than proved his prowess with new-fangled Hollywood magic, one wishes that he had also not forgotten his faculty for old-school elements like plot and character- after all, it was these that made his 1992 'New Dragon Gate Inn' such an enduring masterpiece.

Tsui Hark goes back to the well to draw fresh inspiration, returning once more to King Hu's classic Dragon Gate Inn - which he already remade rather wonderfully in 1992. The story is given a fresh set of details to flesh it out, but the basic skeleton remains the same - evil eunuchs, patriotic rebels and independent forces of uncertain allegiance all converge on the eponymous inn, where identities are masked and secrets concealed until a game of wits allows the various parties to ascertain where they all stand - and exactly whose ass they need to kick.

This is not the first time that Tsui Hark has convinced himself that what one of his classic films really needed was an update with loads of CGI - witness Legend of Zu in 2001, an exercise which failed to convince anybody else of that viewpoint. This time he has an extra decade of Chinese experience in CGI to draw on though, and what's more... now he can do it in 3D! Well, I will have to take the internet's word for that, 'cause I watched in boring old 2D (albeit HD). Can he convince us this time that computer graphics are the tool he's been waiting for all along to truly unleash his imagination? No, he can't. Aside from a few impressive moments, the CGI still looks rather fake, and fails to impress or engage as well as the low-budget special effects (wires, clever camera work) that made the 1992 film such an impressive spectacle. Furthermore, he seems to have failed to note the main factor that caused Legend of Zu to rank so much lower in fans' hearts than its 1983 predecessor... all the special effects in the world won't engage an audience if they don't get involved in the story. Well-defined, likable (or hateable, where appropriate) characters whose fates we actually care about will encourage us to forgive any weaknesses in the special effects, but the converse is rarely true. Flying Swords of Dragon Gate fails to deliver on characters, and fails to develop the plot. The film begins by introducing the political intrigues of the court and the rival factions of the Eunuchs, then fails to provide any particular relevance to this detail. Jet Li plays a rebel who we assume to be patriotic, but doesn't actually offer any explanation whatsoever as to as his motivations, his particular plights, or much of a character at all (though he gets more than most). Various groups are introduced, and brought together at the inn, then the film sort of flounders for a little bit before everybody just sort of decides its time to start fighting. The sense of intrigue, the subtle details, the game of wits as these master fighters out-smart and out-guess each other... the actual meat of King Hu's original film, in other words... pretty much replaced by 'hey, one of the good guys happens to look exactly like the chief bad guy!'.

Oh well, Jet Li's on hand, so at least there must be some spectacular action, right? Oh yeah, I forgot... he got old. There are some nicely choreographed action scenes in places, but with too much reliance on CGI of mixed effectiveness.

Maybe I'm viewing the older films with a touch of rose-tinting, or maybe I'm just getting old and tHe KidZ will see the many virtues of the latest attempt to improve a classic that I'm missing. It probably did look quite spectacular in 3D-capable cinemas... but I am yet to be convinced that that can ever take the place of a well written script, or a director who still remembers that he has human actors on set somewhere, and that getting a great performance out of them is probably the most important of his job.

This movie is directed by the legendary Tsui Hark, features one of my favourite actors with Jet Li and is about Chinese legends and myths. This sounds quite promising but the final result is only of an average quality and therefor rather disappointing.

The main problem is that Tsui Hark and Jet Li have become older but especially the director forgot to progress. He still does his movies the same way he did it in the late eighties or in the early nineties when they became international blockbusters. This style simply fails to impress nowadays. The choreographies are still bombastic and detailed but they feel even more exaggerated and artificial than usual because this movie is completely overloaded with special CGI effects. Jet Li has also become older and doesn't do the impressive fighting scenes he did in the past. He is quite underused in this flick.

All these things wouldn't be so bad if Jet Li incarnated a good character. In movies such as "Fearless", he proved that he is not only an excellent fighter but also a credible actor. If Tsui Hark had created an intriguing story, the high amount of effects wouldn't have harmed this movie. That's what the main problem is. The movie includes no interesting story line and is rather confusing. The story is very tough to follow because there are many impostors and conspiracies going on which would normally be interesting but as the amount of intrigues is too elevated, the formula simply doesn't work and one gets quite mixed up in the end. A few potentially interesting characters play only minor roles such as the Tartars while I feel almost no empathy with the main actors. Jet Li's acting remains faceless and if there are a few good actors in this film, then these are the female ones such as Xun Zhou and especially Gwei Lun-Mei.

Both Tsui Hark and Jet Li must though change their styles and skills to still create stunning movies these years. Both deliver a rather lukewarm performance and can't convince. The movie kicks off with a few interesting scenes and special effects but as soon as the story takes places in the desert tavern, the movie gets worse. The effects in the final third of the film are overwhelming and unnecessary and make the whole thing rather hard to sit through as it feels like a cheesy Walt Disney production. Any fan of both the main actor and the director should go for the original movies and ignore this one. The People's Republic of China seems to do the same mistakes as Hollywood these days and invests in useless remakes and sequels instead of focusing on fresh stories which I simply can't support as the originals were way better and innovating for their time. This here is for true fans only.

The Flying Swords of Dragon Inn expands upon the mythos created in the earlier two films, and throws in a lot more formidable characters as well as their respective selfish objectives and missions, starting with the lead character of Zhou Huai'an (Jet Li), a vigilante in the Ming Dynasty responsible for a spate of killings of corrupt court officials. With the King forming the East and West Bureaus in the same fashion as the FBI and CIA respectively, an incredible set action piece that serves as a prologue has Zhou dispatching the head of the East Bureau in a special appearance by the legendary Gordon Liu, to make the case of how powerful Zhou is with his lightning quick reflexes and special moves that we don't see much of, and gets that special effects boost as well.

You see, Zhou disappears for about more than half the movie, which is a pity since Jet Li's star billing is used everywhere. Like a wandering swordsman who pops up every now and then to help the poor and the weak, the damsel in distress here is a palace handmaiden (Mavis Fan) who is on the run for carrying what would be the Dragon baby, impregnated by a naturally lecherous Emperor whose concubine sets the entire plot in motion for wanting any female with the possibility of producing a bloodline to the throne terminated. With Yu Hua Tian (Chen Kun), the head of the West Bureau her pillow partner, the game is afoot when the handmaiden gets rescued by Ling Lanqiu (Zhou Xun), the female equivalent of Zhou Huai'an whose brooding demeanour hints at a past romantic liaison with Zhou, and who harbours some secrets of the infamous Dragon Inn which is now populated by rag tag characters,

There are subplots galore in the film, whose screenplay is also written by Tsui Hark, that will call for your utmost attention in order to keep pace and make sense of it all, some properly developed while others relying on your past knowledge of the Dragon Inn mythos as foundation in which this retelling is based on, allowing you to connect the dots why certain events are done the way they are now. For instance, in Hu's original film, there are bloodlines on the run which get congregated at Dragon Inn, and this one loosely follows that rationale. And for once, we know why various groups descend upon this inn in the middle of nowhere, if not for the very ordinary reason of having treasure buried somewhere in the midst of the vast wasteland, and to hunt for it meant to exploit the tunnels beneath the inn, make sense of some inscribed couplets, and depending on 1 in 60 years (not 1 in 50 years ponding in Singapore mind you) geographic events to allow all the cards to fall into place.

However, like all great martial arts epic, the fun always lies with the villains, and Flying Swords boasts a memorable number of them. Chen Kun's Yu Hua Tian has in possession the title Flying Swords that brings back the hey days where gimmicky weapons are the order of the day in swordfighting films, and is himself an adversary who knows no mercy. His double role here makes this almost like a Chen Kun starrer, and a well deserved one for the performance put in as characters on either side of the fence. His cronies too are as bad as bad can be, and are exponents in their own right, with Fan Siu Wong as the masked Ma Jing Liang, and the Western Bureau second in command Tan Lu Zi (Sheng Jian) who unfortunately gets outfoxed most of the time.

As a martial arts film, Flying Swords of Dragon Gate has enough variance in its fighting stances and styles, and to exploit 3D, naturally has stocked up on its flying dagger numbers to provide for those throw-toward-the-screen moments. It's quite hit and miss here, as some effects were wondrously too rich and too artificial that takes you out of the movie and may look more in place in a science fiction film instead, while others are done just right to blend in with the period surroundings. With a number of Chinese films these days just slapping on special effects like it was butter on bread (Culprits being films like Legendary Amazons, The Sorcerer and White Snake which also starred Jet Li, and just about every period flick coming out in the last year or two), this one may have to convince those who are turned off by the earlier shoddy productions.

Tsui Hark continues to reinvent himself with each technological leap, with his Zu Warriors of the Magic Mountain (1983, not the 2001 monstrosity), the Once Upon a Time in China series, and now with Detective Dee leading the charge and sealing the deal for his comeback, Flying Swords may just be that magic ticket Tsui Hark needs to re-establish himself as one of the greats in Asian cinema after a woeful past decade. It may not be an instant classic, but Flying Swords does have the necessary ingredients to make it amongst the game changing tent- poles of the genre.