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!

I'm not sure what Donnie Yen was thinking when signed up for this. I hope he got some good money because this movie is so idiotic that it can ruined even decades of fame in its 1 hour and 45 minutes.

I can't really understand why this is considered the Captain America of Hong Kong either.

The script is incoherent to say the least. The genres shift abruptly from slapstick comedy to action and to drama and to horror in a split second. The editing is a total mess and in addition, you have to deal with some really annoying whooshes every time the location or the age changes.

There is an OK I guess martial arts choreography by Yen himself but isn't enough to make the movie worth seeing.

To tell you the truth I'm very disappointed from the latest martial arts movies.

Overall: watch it on DVD or on the Internet.

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

I have been a Donnie Yen fan every since I saw him in the first Ip Man film. Now every time I see a Donnie Yen film shown locally (which is not often), I try to catch it. Last year, he shifted his fighting style from elegant Wing Chun to gritty MMA in the film called "Special ID". This year, Yen turns to fantasy fighting in "Iceman".

Mainly "Iceman" was about a group of four friends who are high officials in the Imperial Guards during the Ming Dynasty. Three of them frame He Ying with conspiring with Japanese pirates, leading to his execution. As he tries to escape, he gets caught in an avalanche, gets cryogenically preserved, only to wake up in present day Hong Kong. Two of his traitor "friends" also wake up with him to continue their 400 year old fight.

He Wing is a kind and helpful guy, especially to the girl who took him in, May. He even helps May with her invalid mother currently in a nursing home. He Wing is also on some sort of quest, searching for the key to the so-called Golden Wheel of Time, an ancient time machine of sorts. Furthermore there is a group of corrupt cops who are after the three frozen Ming guys to sell to a North Korean buyer. All these plot lines could not really be settled in one film, as the ending obviously pointed towards a sequel.

Acting is cheesy. The comedy is lowbrow, slapstick with jokes about various body functions. The best parts of the film are still the fight scenes, even if the style was old-fashioned with a lot of obvious wire work. The climactic fight scene is the awesome three-way in the middle of a suspension bridge, with chains vs. sword vs. battle axe. Exciting stuff, though it went a bit overboard with its length.

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.