Yi tin to lung gei

It's definitely a big challenge to squeeze such a long story into one movie, as a result it's made into Part 1 & 2. This movie (Part 1) focuses mainly on introducing the characters and the different sects (e.g. Shaolin, Wu Dang, ErMei...), as well as the complicated conflicts among them; while Part 2... NOT sure yet, as it's NOT yet released (hee...).

The pace is good and it flows well from the beginning to the end! It kept me going on and I could hardly feel bored!

The role selection is a bit off! E.g. Getting 42-year-old Raymond Lam to play the role of an early 20's Zhang WuJi is NOT convincing at times. Besides, Donnie Yen is NOT old or 'there' enough to play the role of Zhang SanFeng. Instead, they shall consider Sammo Hung.

Basically, it's a very RUSHING movie, with the first 30 minutes introducing Zhang Wuji's background info (including his parents, grand-father, step-grand-father...); then it goes straight to the fight among the various sects. Due to time constraint, there is NO CHANCE for character development within each sect. Therefore, having known the storyline of this Jin Yong's novel in advanced is definitely an advantage.

The actions are ok - typical HK + China style - where they fly here and there while fighting, NO more NO less, at acceptable level.

Overall, it's an ok movie. I enjoyed watching it, and it's pretty entertaining! Despite the role selection issue + rushing pace, I am good with it! And I look forward to watching the Part 2 in the coming weeks.

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.

All the famous actor already know this show sure flop yet still come to appear at this show because of Director Wong Jing. All didn't portray well , just use poker face finish the lines and that's it. Old school camera style.

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.

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.