Yi tin to lung gei

Great story but ruined by the director, again.

The special effects are too blunt and it doesn't go smoothly.

The episode does not have a climax, and the different scene cannot closely catch the audience's eyes

Actors are not embarrassed, but the people watching are.

I just finished watching both parts of this remake of the Heavenly Sword and Dragon Sabre. Well it's technically a remake of the KungFu Cult Master, a 1993 Jet Li movie that never got a proper ending. I first watched a version of this story, thr 1986 TV series, when I was a child. Even as a child, I was impressed by the story, so I was excited when I learned that there's a 2022 remake, which will surely have better special effects. Well, to call this 2022 version a remake would be a blasphemy. This movie is not faithful to its source material. Some plots have been shortened or completely changed, pressumably to maintain a shorter running time (the original series has 40 episodes). The 2 biggest names in the cast, donnie yen and louis koo, have probably 30 minutes of screen time combined. The choreography is terrible, special effect looks cheap, and the characters have been neutered. The deaths of some characters, so powerful in the 1986 series, do not feel impactful at all here. I don't dislike the actor portraying Wuji, but he simply does not have Tony Leung's onscreen charisma. And the decision to alter some important plots to meet the required runtime does not help him at all. I understand they had to cram so many materials into a 4-hour runtime, but I feel it could've been executed more elegantly. The love story between wuji and zhao min feels very rushed, and there's no chemistry at all between the two actors. Overall this is an extremely disappointing attempt of what is one of the most famous chinese fairy tales. I've heard many good things about the 2019 series, so if you want to revisit your childhood, I suggest either watching that, or better yet, watch the 1986 classic.

For wuxia movies' fans, especially the old school Shaw Brothers era, this 2022's Yi Tien To Lung Qi is the romantic reminder of such era. Minimalistic visual effects, clever editings, physical stunt works and dance-like choreograph fight scenes are the strongest features of this film. Because it allows the director and actors to showcase the poetic story of Yi Tien To Lung Qi: the ironic world where chaos rules, the righteous justify sinister cruelty and the unlawful minorities show their heroic deeds by actions. Yi Tien To Lung Qi is Cin Yong's third saga of the Condor Heroes Saga which tells a story that span through 5 generations heroes who defend China from invasion through righteous unification.

If you are looking for extravaganza of special effects fights movie, skip this. For those who enjoys a social commentary story and old school wuxia fans, you need to watch this

By the way, this is 2-hour film is the first installment of Yi Tien To Lung Qi, I can't wait to see the 2nd installment.

New Kung Fu Cult Master 1 didn't really leave a sour taste in my mouth after finishing watching it. But, must admit this one feels slightly underwhelming. Story-wise, the film basically covered the same ground as Jet Li's version in 1993. The thing is, the CGI-laden fight scenes didn't have the same excitement and thrills, while most of its solid cast was practically wasted. Safe to say, Donnie Yen, Xing Yu, Fan Siu-Wong, or Xiong Xin-Xin came only for the easy paycheck.

Needless to say that of course I opted to sit down and watch the 2022 Hong Kong martial arts movie "Yi Tin To Lung Gei" (aka "New Kung Fu Cult Master") when I had the opportunity. And given my fascination and love for the Hong Kong cinema, then this movie was definitely something I had looked forward to watching.

The storyline, as written by Jing Wong, was entertaining. It was a story that had a lot of different elements to it, so it is something that will have an appeal with a large audience, I think. But this was definitely something for the fans of the wire-fu genre, you know the 'Wuxia' martial arts genre of movies.

Something that really impressed me about "Yi Tin To Lung Gei" was the cast ensemble. They had some nice talented actresses and actors on the cast list, with the likes of Donnie Yen, Louis Koo, Xing Yu, Jade Leung, Tze-Chung Lam, Raymond Lam, Alex Fong and others. So if you are a fan of the Hong Kong cinema, then you are definitely in for a treat here.

There is a good amount of action and martial arts in the movie. I really enjoyed the martial arts scenes, despite it being that over-the-top Wuxia style of fighting, you know with the crazy leaping, semi-flying and what not. It looks good, and that is what matters, because realism is not a factor here.

The character gallery was somewhat working against the overall enjoyment of the movie, as there simply was too many characters to keep track of. I have to admit that once the movie ended, I could only put a name on a single of all the characters. Faces, yes, but names, just on one.

"Yi Tin To Lung Gei" is the type of martial arts movie where you just lean back, munch on a snack and enjoy the fighting and the leaping around. And it makes for a good old fashioned action martial arts movie.

My rating of "Yi Tin To Lung Gei" from director Jing Wong lands on a six out of ten stars.