Sakra, la légende des demi-dieux

SAKRA is another labour of love from star and director Donnie Yen, and I wish he'd give up making them. This is one of those flabby, bloated wuxia-style movies that's all over the place. After a totally random back story we meet Yen's expert swordsman, a king of beggars type, who finds himself set up by unknown enemies and forced to fight for his life. The plot beats play out ridiculously here and the whole thing has a strong air of embarrassment about it. The action scenes are unsurprisingly dominated by less than effective CGI, despite which a few are quite exciting, but it all goes on forever at a slow pace which makes it feel like four hours. And the way it refuses to end is unforgiveable.

It's an adaptation of Jian Yong's Demi God and Semi Devil, most chinese or Asian would have knew the story path, it's like the story of Arthur and Merlin... Without even any plot twist jumbled into a 30 minuted movie. The original normally spans 40-50 hours long with lots of plot twist.

And the protagonist fails to even decide whether he wants to be a kungfu practitioners or a wuxia fantasy inner strenght no hit everybody fly around

The female protagonist cant act, Donnie has a bit of charisma but lacking acting range.

Overall a convulated mess. I'd still pay to see it for the action but it's nothing more than a superhero movie.

He was written as strong but not all conquering strong.

Tin Lung Baat Bou, internationally known as Sakra, goes back to Hong Kong's wu xia trademarks that have marked the art of cinema between the late eighties and early years of the new millennium. References to movies such as A Chinese Ghost Story, Once Upon a Time in China, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Hero and House of Flying Daggers can be observed throughout this film by genre fans. While this movie is a sincere homage to these influential classics, it however never quite reaches their memorable quality.

The story is rather interesting. Kiu Fung is a child abandoned by his unknown parents who grows up in a remote farming community and is taken precious care of by his loving adoptive parents. He learns the art of Shaolin, becomes an outstanding martial artist and rises the ranks to become the leader of a martial arts organization. Things turn sour when Kiu Fung is accused of several murders he hasn't committed and is now tracked down by former friends, partners and supporters. The protagonist goes on an epic journey to clear his name and find the true culprits with the help of beautiful servant and thief Azhu.

On the positive side, this film is based upon the novel Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils by Jin Yong and adapts the source material's twisted story line and profound characters. The cinematography is stunning with calm, precise and swift camera work that avoids shaky sections, rapid movements and nervous cuts. The settings vary from poor farms over wild steppes to elegant palaces that deserve to be admired on the big screen.

On the negative side, the action scenes are exaggerated to a point that they become unintentionally funny. Exaggeration has always been an important element of wu xia cinema but this idea is pushed to new extremes right from the opening fighting scene that is completely blown out of proportions and doesn't suit the movie's overall gritty, serious and realistic tone at all. This film is filled with so many plot twists, diversified characters and changes of location that the directors could have made an entire television series out of these elements but instead opted for a movie of two hours and ten minutes that simply feels overloaded and tough to digest. The film's scenes during and even after the credits indicate a potential sequel as more new questions are being asked than old questions are being answered. If you don't want to feel obligated to follow a new epic franchise, you should not watch this movie at all.

At the end of the day, Tin Lung Baat Bou, better known as Sakra around the world, is an entertaining experience for fans of period martial arts films. The visual effects, epic soundtrack, wonderful settings, tense plot and interesting characters should keep most viewers hooked from start to finish. However, some action scenes are even more exaggerated than the material of some shallow contemporary superhero flicks, the film feels overloaded with promising ideas that don't give it any air to breathe and most questions aren't even answered when this film eventually ends. To be fair, genre fans should appreciate a very decent wu xia movie but potential new or even occasional fans should stick to the classics mentioned in the introduction first before being able to fully appreciate this new movie.

When Donnie Yen steps back behind the camera, you expect a masterclass. Instead, it feels like he skipped the lesson on subtle digital de-aging. With his CGI-smoothened face, Donnie looks like he borrowed Snapchat's anti-aging filter. It's borderline comical watching a "young" 59-year-old pulling off flips and striking Goku-like poses, ready to unleash a Kamehameha. Believability? About as solid as Obelix on a vegan diet.

Where Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon was a poetic symphony of martial arts, Sakra is its drunken karaoke cousin. The film flings everything at you-characters flying, fighting, crying, and delivering lines so overblown even Vegeta would blush. It's stuffed with dialogue straight out of a Naruto filler episode, dressed up in big-budget sets and costumes that remind you this is still a Donnie Yen production.

The special effects? Oh boy. Between a digital dragon that looks like a screensaver and chi blasts straight out of a 90s VHS intro, the visuals are far from masterpiece territory. It undercuts fights that might have been iconic otherwise. The choreography is breathtaking, but the overuse of green screens and cheesy effects yanks you right out of the action. Honestly, the 1993 Power Rangers had more credible visuals.

The plot? Shakespeare, but kung fu style-and poorly digested. Qiao Feng, our disgraced hero, drags his sword and tarnished honor through a gauntlet of twists so far-fetched they might have been written by a Red Bull-fueled screenwriter. The stakes are there, but everything feels hollow, like a lightsaber duel without the "vwoosh." It tries to be tragic, but often stumbles into unintentional comedy.

And yet, it's hard to stay mad at Sakra. Martial arts fans will feast on the dazzling fight sequences, which remain the movie's undeniable highlight. Donnie Yen still knows how to deliver jaw-dropping action with a side of airborne theatrics. Sakra is a guilty pleasure-a mix of epic spectacle and sheer WTF moments, perfect for a no-pressure movie night with snacks in hand.

Tin Lung Baat Bou (Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils) reminds us that Donnie Yen can still wow us, even if the CGI occasionally stings the eyes. With its questionable effects, freewheeling plot, and awe-inspiring battles, Sakra is equal parts epic and absurd. Worth watching for the fun-but don't expect a masterpiece... unless you're into dragons that look like they were made in Microsoft Paint.

The only problem , for me, remains the beginning of story. It is pure unrealistic and seems only pretext for choreography of fights.

The real good point remains the elegant hommage to classic films of genre. And , sure, the return to history of Song dynasty , suggesting the context and the difficulties of period.

So, against temptation to be critic, a correct martial art film, including for romance and for performances, silly in few scenes, exagerated in others but , the target being clear, to see it as poor movie starting from the story reduced at sketch level ( or only petext ) can be pretty unfair.