Iceman

Most negative reviews of the movie you can find on Internet are right. I don't know if it was the director or the writers but a lot in the story is downright terrible and makes absolutely no sense. The filmmakers took almost no time building up momentum for key scenes in the story and properly explaining the logic behind the characters' origins and motives and just jumps right away into the essential parts taken from the original 1989 movie ICEMAN COMETH.

The result is a hugely unfitting film with lots of nonsense humor (many "wtf moments from Wang Baoqiang, Yu Kang, and even Donnie Yen himself), incoherent acting performances, and obvious story loops. Unlike the original movie, the filmmakers also couldn't balance seriousness and comedy at all. Watching everything is like watching several types of movie genres rolled into one. It gets to the point where one would scratch the head thinking what the hell director Law Wing Cheong wanted to achieve and whether he lost it somewhere along the process of making the movie. Because the overall narrative is so confusing.

That being said, I think Donnie's action choreography is the saving grace. I especially enjoy the nightclub fight scene and the action finale on the bridge, which features creative ideas -- the concept behind Donnie's action direction forsakes the usual HK style exchanges of punches, kicks, blocks< because it's mostly situational and seeks dramatic tension -- wirework, and decent-looking CGI. All scenes, including the brief action sprinkles scenes, are shot and edited exceptionally well. And something that surprises me: It has the same sound design from SPL, FLASH POINT, and IP MAN quadrilogy giving the impact of the hits and blocks an edgier/meaty feel to it. However, unfortunately, they aren't in great numbers and, beside the ones I mentioned, they aren't lengthy either so what's present aren't enough to hold the whole movie.

Overall, it's yet another good example of bad remakes, and ending up as one of Donnie Yen's worst movies in recent years -- easily making SPECIAL ID look much better in comparison -- and ever (it's up there with CIRCUS KIDS and IRON MONKEY 2). This review has now given me little hope for the sequel being good in its' entirety, although I'm sure the action will be good. The bad reputation is very spot on!

Judging from the cover I thought this was a period piece Martial Arts movie. But it does play in the modern times (that's in the 21st century). It might be convoluted and not good in its appeal to tell a story, but it does have Donnie Yen in it. And while he has done some way better movies (just the IP Man trilogy alone, but many more of course), he's always a pleasure to watch (fight).

Sometimes the comedy does work, though it's very plain to put it mildly. But while this isn't a masterpiece by any means, there have been worse movies. And I've seen a couple of them too. So this is entertaining to a degree, but if you don't watch too many movies, you may wanna skip this

ICEMAN is Donnie Yen's much-lauded remake of the Yuen Biao-starring '80s martial arts classic, THE ICEMAN COMETH. It sees Ming bodyguard Yen and a couple of his foes frozen in time and transported to the present day, where they continue their battle to the death while coming to terms with modern-day society.

I thought the original film was pretty good, with the reliable Yuen Wah as the villain and some great action, although it's not a favourite of mine. However, it's far, far better than this unfocused and messy comedy which sees Yen at his very worst. It's similar to THE EMPEROR AND THE WHITE SNAKE in that all of the action is augmented with endless wirework and dodgy CGI which makes for a very boring viewing experience overall. My favourite Yen films are the realistic ones like IP MAN and FLASH POINT, not the stupid CGI fantasy on offer here.

ICEMAN is overlong and overly pointless, with lots of random scenes that don't go anywhere. It's also offensive, with gross-out lowbrow comedy seemingly shoehorned in at random, and ethnic stereotypes cast throughout as the villains. Yen is on autopilot, as is Simon Yam, but the rest of the cast are plain awful. Particularly Huang Shengyi (THE EMPEROR AND THE WHITE SNAKE); I really can't understand how she keeps getting work as an actress.

"Iceman" begins with a ship carrying what looks like three cryogenic tubes. Then, in a flashback, a Chinese officer is being accused of conspiring with the dreaded Japanese pirates back in the 17th century. However, when the Emperor of China's men try to apprehend him, his is transported to the present day Hong Kong--and you realize he's one of the guys in the cryo tubes. Here in the 21st century, he's out of place but also amazingly clever and helpful. I liked this part of the film. Soon, however, he's caught up in all sorts of intrigues and it all has to do with the Golden Wheel of Time and the god Shiva's penis (I am serious about this last part) and a bazillion cops trying to kill him. Can this visitor from the past take on a HUGE army of cops and win?

When "Iceman" began, it felt a lot like I'd seen this sort of plot in another film. The French film "Les Visiteurs" (remade in the US as "Just Visiting") is a silly film where the hero is magically transported many centuries into the future. Here in the present, the knight is completely out of his element and is a bumbler. The film is played strictly for laughs. Here with "Iceman", however, when the soldier is magically transported into the future, he inexplicably is like superman! Not only does he possess nearly god-like fighting and intellectual powers at times, but he also seems to magically understand technology--and he inexplicably uses the internet and destroys surveillance cameras! To me, none of this really made a lot of sense. How could a man from centuries before know how to do an internet search or understand what cameras are?! For me, this was a big problem with Iceman--it just didn't make a lot of sense. If a man is somehow transported to today from the distant past, the comical way "Les Visiteurs" handled it seems much, much more likely--with the guy drinking from toilets and getting into one problem after another. Instead, it goes from being a bit charming to being very confusing and very violent. Then, it becomes a huge, explosive finale where there are tons of explosions and violence and mindless mayhem. The charm just doesn't last very long.

So is it worth seeing? Well, if you have nothing better to do...sure. But as I mentioned above, quite a bit about the hero just didn't make a lot of sense in "Iceman". Instead, while I never loved "Les Visiteurs", I'd recommend you see it over "Iceman".

Normally I am not overly keen on remakes or re-visiting of old movies. I mean, why meddle with something that had already been made? But I will say that this 2014 version of "Iceman" (aka "Bing feng: Chong sheng zhi men") was actually an entertaining and enjoyable remake and one well worthy of the older movie.

And it is because of the good special effects and CGI effects in the movie. Plus the dazzling martial arts performance from Donnie Yen, which always spices up a movie. Those two things put together make for a very enjoyable remake.

The story in "Iceman" is about an Imperial guard in the Ming Dynasty who was frozen solid during an epic battle. Then 400 years later he and his nemesis are brought back to life in modern day Hong Kong, which makes for a clash of cultures, traditions and customs.

"Iceman" is a very fast paced movie, as most Donnie Yen movies tend to be. And it is enjoyable from start to end.

The cast in "Iceman" was good, and people were doing good jobs with their respective roles and characters. Donnie Yen did, of course, steal the scene with his performances. But it was also nice to see Simon Yam and Wang Bao-Qiang in the movie.

There is also elements of comedy thrown into the movie, making it a combination of action and comedy. However, it is not done to the extend where the comedy is too much. This is, of course, a matter of preference if you enjoy a mix of comedy and action. I did enjoy it, especially because the comedy was done with moderation.

This is not a movie which challenges the audience in any way. You can essentially just sit back and enjoy the ride. The story is very self-explanatory and there are no plot twists along the way. So just sit back and watch the movie.

If you enjoy Asian cinema, then "Iceman" is definitely worth a watch.