Tin lung baat bou

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.

It is an adaptation of the "Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils," from Jin Yong's Wuxia novel. Well, the storyline is pretty simple and straightforward, very much like KungFu Cult Master, whereby the main character is accused of many incidents, and all sects attempt to kill him, and that's where the fight starts and ends.

The pace is alright, packed with action, BUT it could be slow at certain parts! I thought it had ended several times, but it keeps going with a runtime of 130 minutes!

In terms of actions, I like it very much! You could feel the strengths and forces of every hit, and the CGI has enhanced the visual excitement to another level! They really did a great job of combining the "wirework + CGI" and martial arts into a more effective action movie.

A few drawbacks as follows:

Firstly, the movie slows down due to the relationship between Qiao Feng and A Zhu. Yet, it's NOT well managed in such a way that it disrupts the flow and momentum of the movie!

Secondly, Donnie Yen appears to be only good in action, BUT not in romance! There is no spark of chemistry between Qiao Feng and A Zhu! Donnie's acting is rather stiff when it comes to intimate moments with A Zhu. Somehow it's more like a father-daughter relationship than a lover's.

Thirdly, the sub-plot in the 2nd half is rather odd, especially on the introduction of new characters of A Zu's parents and her rebellious sister. It could be due to time constraints, things are rushing off, so it does not gel well to the overall movie and looks disconnected!

Finally, with the ending, we could predict that there may be Part 2 in future. Since it will be a sequel, why NOT break this movie into 2 decent movies, instead of rushing everything out, causing an uneven focus on some details. Also I believe that audiences could enjoy it better, rather than having watched a lengthy movie without proper addresses of some plots.

I gave 6/ 10. Despite the weaknesses above, it's an ok movie for casual entertainment. As said, I love the action and fighting scenes, with the right speed, strength, and force! A watch-able one for this Chinese New Year! Go, Go, Go!!

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.

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.

International martial arts and action superstar, Donnie Yen, wrote, Directed, and stars in this martial arts epic adaptation of Louis Cha's Chinese fantasy novel. It is an action packed, larger than life tale of a respected warrior, betrayed, and forced to defend his name and honor.

The film is visually stunning and packed with fantastic martial arts fight scenes, fanciful costumes, and epic sets. It is a large scale, family oriented action fantasy, despite its significant martial arts and sword violence. It is an ambitious project with a lot of heart. It deliberately has many of the tropes of Chinese Kung Fu films, such as revenge, honor, and the desire to right a great wrong, even at the cost of the star's own life.

The production of the film is somewhere between American Western and Chinese martial arts fantasy, and it works for what it is. What it is not is the gritty, realistic type martial arts action film that Donnie Yen has become known for in recent years. While the cinematography and fight choreography are very good, they are not similar to his work in Flash Point, or John Wick 4.

Yen and the acting from the supporting cast is very good, but it is appropriately hyperbolic to match the script, the story, and the genre.

The film is very enjoyable. If you love Wuxia films add an additional star, and if you love Donnie Yen, add one more. While I am not a huge fan of Wuxi films, or high wire based, martial arts action films I do love DONNIE YEN and this was worth seeing.

This international Wuxi fantasy is distributed by Well Go USA and is in Chinese with English subtitles.