Dragon

DRAGON, a Chinese remake of Cronenberg's A HISTORY OF VIOLENCE with added martial arts action, is a fine-looking film. The period setting is brought vividly to life and the plot moves at a fair old whack, always avoiding cliché in its exploration of a former gangster attempting to lead a decent life as an ordinary family man. Of course, it's a Donnie Yen film, so there are the inevitably lengthy and detailed martial arts sequences which are typically strong and help to lift the movie's entertainment value immeasurably.

Elsewhere, the material does feel a little strained at times and the story seems to fall apart as it progresses. The second half is noticeably inferior to the first, and the film seems to be merely treading water up until the final confrontation between anti-hero and villain. Still, the producers deserve kudos for casting martial arts star and genre icon Jimmy Wang Yu (completely unrecognisable these days, it has to be said) as the chief bad guy.

In addition, there's a serious and finely-tuned performance from Takeshi Kaneshiro as a detective investigating Yen's background. Kaneshiro's character is somewhat incongruous given the provincial nature of the rest of the movie but Kaneshiro can always be relied upon to deliver carefully mannered performances and his role here proves no exception to that rule.

Come the roll of the final credits, I was left feeling mildly entertained by the material, but also slightly dissatisfied, purely because the quality of the action isn't on par with the highs of IP MAN 1 & 2, FLASH POINT and other Yen classics. I've been spoilt by such films, and as a result Dragon felt a little lacklustre, more watchable as an interesting curio than a full-blooded fight flick.

An attack on a butcher's shop in a small rural area, unleashes all hell for those involved, the authorities and our screens.

The story unfolds after an police investigator becomes perplexed as to how an ordinary shop worker fends off an orchestrated attack by two ruthless criminals. Being unprepared to simply accept that the quiet family man, simply got lucky he tries to dig deeper and reaches a point where the revelations is more than he could even handle.

Beautifully made and nicely told, this a film with hidden might, where the audience goes from one surprise to another between scenes of true human warmth as well as spectacular fighting sequences. Yes, they go over the top but it is done in such a refined manner that you could forgive them.

One of the best modern Wu Xia movies with overwhelming combats and spectacular scenes . Being well set during China's Imperial dynasty , and spectacular and colorfully directed by Peter Chan . It deals with a sinful martial arts expert called Liu Jin-xi (Donnie Yen) wants to start a new tranquil life, only to be hunted by a determined Detective called Xu Bai-Jiu (Takeshi Kaneshiro of House of flying daggers) who investigates his dark past and his former master (Wang Yu) . Liu lives almost anonymous until two robbers enter their village to rob a provision store and defends himself and kill them . Later on , the village is attacked and in order to seek vengeance Liu uses his extraordinary martial art skills .

This classic Wu Xia flick displays lots of violence , action filled , thrills and fierce combats . This luxurious martial arts film was marvelously filmed with good production design , colorful cinematography and breathtaking scenes . The flick displays lots of violence, action filled , thrills and fierce combats . This is a colourful, China set and quite budget movie ; leave no cliché untouched , though the fighting are magnificently staged . The picture is full of tumultuous sequences with frenetic action , surprises , fierce combats and groundbreaking struggles . Amid the grandeur of the scenarios and impressive fights is developed an intrigue about a villager who bears dark secrets and stubborn Detective exploring his hidden side using C.S.I methods . The picture is starred by three myths of Wu Xia and Chinese martial arts such as Donni Yen who starred "Seven Swords" , ¨Hero¨ , ¨Yip man¨ saga , Takeshi Kaneshiro who acted in ¨Warlord¨ ¨Chungking Express¨, ¨Red Cliff¨ and Wang Yu who starred classic Kung-fu movies for Shaw Brothers as "The Chinese Boxer" , the 1st real movie non-swords, only bare hand and kicks fighting, a new genre in HK action movies , he gained super stardom status as the "One-armed Swordsman" and ¨ Master of flying guillotine¨ ; Wang paved the way for the future Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan for such a genre.

The motion picture was compellingly directed by the Chinese Peter Ho-Sun Chan who has established himself firmly as a distinguished filmmaker/producer whose last 4 films have generated millions in China box office . In as early as the nineties, Chan already scored a string of critically acclaimed box office hits, including his award-winning directorial debut ¨Between Hello and Goodbye¨ (1991) and following ¨He's a Women, She's a Man¨ (1994) and ¨Comrades, Almost a Love Story¨ (1997), those produced by his own United Filmmakers Organization (UFO), among which Comrades has won a record 9 Hong Kong Film Awards and was named one of the Ten Best Movies of 1997 by Time Magazine. In 1998, Chan directed his first Hollywood picture ¨The Love Letter¨ for Steven Spielberg's Dreamworks SKG and starred by Spielberg's wife : Kate Capshaw. In 2000, he established Applause Pictures dedicated to quality co-productions aimed at audiences across Asia. In 2005, foreseeing the ever-growing market in China and its fast expanding audiences, Chan decided to take on the China market with the musical extravagance Perhaps Love (2005), Shot entirely on location in Mainland China, it became one of the year's top-grossing films in China, Hong Kong and Taiwan, and received a record 29 awards. Chan next directed ¨The Warlords¨ (2007) with Takhesi Kaneshiro and produced Derek Yee's ¨Protégé¨ (2007). The two films were the two highest grossing Hong Kong-China co-productions of 2007. And of course , this successful ¨Wu Xia¨ (2011) . Rating : Above average . The motion picture will appeal to Donnie Yen fans , he's a complete show .

Awesome choreographed fight scenes, rich & deep characters and a great cast to boot, this is a must watch for any fan of the martial arts genre. Donnie Yen has yet another spectacular performance from the acting to the action. But I must say, Takeshi Kaneshiro does some show stealing of his own in his role as the sagacious detective. Suffice to say, both actors delivered riveting performances that kept me glued to my seat. What else can I say about this movie? Just watch it already. It's an entertaining take one man's desire to leave his violent past behind, and start anew. If you want drama, build up and great action then this is the ticket.

"A Chinese version of A HISTORY OF VIOLENCE (2005)!", which is my immediate response off the top of my head during the viewing at a local cinema, ordainedly a deja vu even banal narrative does undermine the film itself. Also Wu Xia's ostensible propaganda is so-called "microcosmic Kung Fu", which in my opinion, fabricates a promising prologue, particularly leavens the appeal of the detective segments, Takeshi's character is noteworthy for infusing panache into his persistent waywardness, which sounds more intriguing than the hero- hidden-in-a-remote-village plot, unfortunately the mission is unjustly unfulfilled.

Frankly speaking, the overall quality of the film is above average, as Peter Chen's prestige laurels still waver on a high level. The technical job is amazingly done, the acupuncture specifications, the reconstruction of a minority people's village and some canny inventions such as the alarm clock, the ancient condom and the print apparatus are fun to watch, not to mention the ending, which aroused a burst of laughters in the cinema, I must say it is an unexpected and creative one, otherwise, the finale would be more blushing.

Donnie Yen (from the IP MAN franchise), is unquestionably the leading martial superstar in China at present, whilst Jackie Chan is aging and Jet Li put his priority on his charity career. At an abashed age of 48, being the red-hot Kung Fu star, I pessimistically assume that Donnie's heyday will not be protracted too long. This is Takeshi's the third time starring in Peter Chan's films after THE WARLORDS (2007) and PERHAPS LOVE (2005), this time, his thunder cannot be stolen. I am also surprised to see Tang Wei (the budding starlet in LUST, CAUTION 2007) took such a marginalized role in the film, an almost downplayed innocent wife, although solid, her only shining moment is curbed within one cry-scene, to me, it is an inexcusable misemployment. Other two weathered Kung Fu masters are Kara Hui and Yu Wang, as the main villains, both give admirable but a shade monochrome performances.

All in all, the film is a niche under my expectation, but after so many recent disappointments, to name a few, THE LOST BLADESMAN (2011), FIST OF FURY: THE LEGEND OF CHEN ZHEN (2010) (both under the belt of Donnie Yen), Wu Xia show how desperate we need some new blood to inject into the now overheated Chinese Kung Fu genre, which I do appreciate for its effort.