O Grande Duelo

This movie had good special effects. Andy and Ekin both did a good job playing their roles as cool and skilled swords-men. The plot is about a duel that will determine who is number one. Each man falls in love during the days leading to the duel, showing the soft side of their hard exteriors. Though the movie is about the duel, the life and investigations of a royal officer seems to be a main focus. Nick Cheung, who plays the royal officer, kind of takes the audience through the movie and provides comic relief. Vicky Chao, the princess, provides some comic relief as well. Over-all this movie was good and I would see it again.

I don't use the term "spectacular spellbinding blockbuster of a movie" often; but, this movie certainly approximates that. It manages to combine humor, romance and martial arts with competent special effects. The women are attractive and dynamic, especially Princess Phoenix (Wei Zhao) who comes across as a little sister to the comic character, Dragon Nine (Nick Cheung).

The two "duellists" are attractive and subdued in their performances...

The best performance, in my humble opinion, is that of Nick Cheung. He manages to combine humor with facial expressions and physical comedy; however, his character also comes across as a competent marital artist.

Granted, the movie is way too short; however, it is worth a watch (or two). Odds are, if you have premium cable, you'll come across it from time to time...

This movie tried to do too much in too little time. It was suppose to be a martial arts, love, friendship and hate film. It tried to be intense, then funny. Like many of the present day HK films, they have to make everything comical. I actually thought this would be a serious film, but it was comedy/drama, and i don't think that's a good combo at all. All in all, this movied tried to do too much in too little time and ended up nothing at all!!

This is an intresting movie, certainly moreso than most Hollywood action/adventures. The action is few and far between as this is not an action movie, but the few fight scenes are effective. The characters are likeable and the acting is good enough.

Most of the movie concerns secret agent Dragon Nine's comedy attempts to solve a murder mystery. This is made up of slapstick, James Bond type gags and gadgets and precious little action. Amusing, but hardly gripping or hilarious.

Then the film suddenly becomes great at the climax. It contains more emotion, imagination, action and characterisation than the rest of the film put together. The mystery is revealed, and becomes more complicated and dramatic than it seemed. The final duel is an excellent, ultra-fast sword fight with superpowers - but it IS still mainly about the clashing of blades. The losing duelist has one final desire, and his attempts to reach it are very sad.

If the whole movie was of the quality of the last ten minutes this would be a classic.

Having watched and enjoyed Andrew Lau's "The Stormriders" and "A Man Called Hero", watching "The Duel" seemed to be the next logical step. While those two had a more serious tone, this one is played more for comedy.

The plot goes like this: The world's two greatest swordsmen (Andy Lau & Ekin Cheng) agree to have a duel on top of the Emperor's royal palace. A government agent, Dragon 9 (played wonderfully by Nick Cheung) is first given the duty to hand out eight medals to the ones who would be allowed to watch the duel. During this mission Dragon 9 discovers a muderer is loose, and he must track down the murderer before the duel takes place.

If you're expecting a flat out martial arts film you are going to be dissapointed with this film. It contains little fighting, and the scenes that do involve fighting are short, and less than impressive. However, if you can appreciate Asian humor, and can tolerate three different love stories, you will enjoy it. Also, the murderer subplot is quite interesting in a "who done it" sense. The love stories are not bad, Dragon 9's is the best, the scenes with his love interest are often quite funny. Also, the scene involing the other Dragon Agents (watch for the one with the crutches!!) is hilarious.

I do have some small problems with the film. Ekin Cheng isn't give nearly enough screen time. I realize it was important to have a shroud of mystery surrounding his character but there are ways of adding to his character developement without giving anything away. Also, the final duel is way too short. So much of the film is invested in building up the fight that it's dissapointing when it does go down...it left me saying "that was it!?!?!?". The conclusion is satisfying yet sad at the same time. Is that the sign of a well-told narrative, or a bad story? I guess it depends on how much you enjoyed the events leading up to it.

Overall I did enjoy the film, but it could've been much better. Give me a longer final fight, and more Ekin Cheng and it would've scored much higher. I give it 6/10