Shang hai bao lei

Oddly enough, then "Shanghai Fortress" had managed to stay under my radar, and it wasn't before I was browsing through the movies on Netflix that it happened to pop up.

I was immediately interested in watching the movie, given the synopsis and also because it starred Shu Qi.

First of all, then it should be said that the storyline written by Jiang Nan wasn't exactly rocket science. This was pretty much generic to the core. It was everything you could and would expect from a sci-fi action movie of this type, for better or worse. Well, at least you know what you are getting yourself into when you sit down to watch "Shanghai Fortress". This is hardly a movie that sets new milestones or move existing borders.

That being said, then I will move straight on to saying that while the storyline was generic and predictable, then the movie was actually quite entertaining and enjoyable, nonetheless.

The visual department really upped their game in this movie. And it was such a visual treat to sit down and watch the CGI effects in "Shanghai Fortress", and I think this is actually the first Chinese movie I have seen that have put on this type of grand display usage of CGI. It was marvelous and it really carried the movie a lot of the way, given the shortcomings of the storyline and script.

They had some fairly nicely talented actors and actresses on the cast list. I wasn't familiar with the most of them, which actually is a nice thing for me, as I enjoy seeing new talents and not associate their faces with previously played roles and characters. But for, I must admit, then it was Shu Qi that had the spotlight in "Shanghai Fortress". I have been a fan of hers for a long, long time and she was good in this movie, though it wasn't her best performance in her career.

All in all, if you enjoy a good old fashioned alien invasion movie, then give "Shanghai Fortress" a chance. I enjoyed it from start to end, and I am rating the movie a solid six out of ten stars.

Having watched Shanghai Fortress its hard not to see this rather mediocre film as political.

Its message seems to be China is leading the world and is at the same time, its saviour. If this sounds familiar, that's because the US has pushed the same message for years. Times are changing, that's for sure.

So putting aside politics how does this film stand up as entertainment. Certainly the special effects are well done and the pacing is mostly decent. Its does drag a little in the middle but not for too long.

The romantic interest between the young male lead and older female counterpart, seems a bit overcooked and absurd. As is the rather starchy and militaristic tone of the film, which reduces the key players to caricatures.

In shor,t this one's ok but you might find yourself rolling your eyes from time to time when you consider its rather simplistic overtones. 5/10.

If you like Chinese way making movies you like it but it is not as macho as Hollywood movies

I am disappointed with this movie. This was a big-budget movie with all the superstars. However, such a mediocre storyline and special effect, I thought I was watching a film from the Scifi channel!

I have found a number of Chinese movies and television shows to be entertaining, so I don't have an automatic prejudice against them, as apparently some other IMDb users have. This particular Chinese movie has some interest in that while it was officially based on a book, it's clear that it took a little inspiration from the American blockbuster "Independence Day". It aims to stand up well to its inspiration, and to a degree it does, having top notch cinematography, sets, and props. The CGI does look a little cartoony at times, but that didn't bother me too much, since it's often that way in American blockbusters.

What DID bother me, however, was the script. The scriptwriters definitely should have had some professional feedback to fine tune it before filming started. As it is, the movie first starts off with an almost incomprehensible opening, as if several pages of explanation had been written but were ripped out. A bigger problem is with the characters of the movie. There is no attempt to make the alien invaders anything more than a mindless robot-like foe. Also, there's little attempt to flesh out the human characters; they generally come across as stock characters you have seen in other movies before instead of having true and interesting personalities. Also, the story comes to a halt for long periods several times, resulting in some dull patches.

While this Chinese blockbuster is a better than the recent Chinese blockbuster "The Wandering Earth", it's not by much. I will end this review by saying what I said for that earlier film: If Chinese filmmakers really want their homegrown blockbusters to be embraced by a world audience, they really need to make sure the scripts are decent enough before filming starts. If that were to happen, Chinese movies would start being serious competition for Hollywood movies.