People who are particular about genre and such things have been trying to decide whether this is a historical drama or action thriller. I'd just call it a marvellous movie. The important thing is that for an action movie to be really engaging, it has to be rooted on a solid plot. Otherwise, the action looks pointless. B&A is an excellent example of how story and action complement each other.
The plot may sound a little stretched, if you challenge the details, but it's the overall spirit that really matters. The story is wonderfully simple: Dr Sun Yat-sen, "father of modern China", came to British colony Hong Kong in the beginning of the 20th Century, for just one morning to meet a dozen revolutionaries from all over China to plan a major insurgence to overthrow the Qing imperial dynasty and form the first republic in China. Waiting for him is an army of assassins deployed from the imperial palace. He needed an hour with the fellow revolutionaries and that hour was critical because it would lay a foundation for a successful revolution. In order to provide him with the best possible chance of success, the local revolutionaries set up a decoy with a double going all over town, including visiting his aged mother. The first 80 minutes set up the story and established the characters; the last hour is all gut-spilling action.
The first part, lacking in action notwithstanding, is consistently engaging, establishing on the macro level the historical backdrop and on a micro level the characters (more about them later) in a fashion reminiscent of Kurosawa's "Seven Samurai". The palpable tension on the other hand will bring to mind "High Noon". The second part is simply the best action you've seen anywhere, period. Even more important is that this is not fighting just for the sake of fighting, but for a course established with heartfelt dedication, through characters that you will unreservedly root for. There'll be not a few heart-wrenching moments, be warned.
There is an entire spectrum of interesting characters, presented with various degrees of depth, as appropriate. I'm not going to mention all, or even a majority of them. The interesting thing is that they are all in this for different motivations. On the villains' side, we have the attention demanding HU Jun playing the chief assassin. Ironically, this is the most "Hollywood" of the characters, a nationalist fanatic to psychopathic proportions. I'm sure if you think hard, you can name half a dozen such ones from Hollywood war or war-related movies.
On the other side, all the heroes have distinct personalities and different motivations. The golden-hearted simple giant cum ex-Shoaling monk cum street snack vendor is there to "fight the bad guys" and that's good enough for him. Young rickshaw "chauffer" Ah Si doesn't know anything about how the greater world works but is willing to lay down his life any time for his kind-hearted employers who treat him like their family. Young girl Fang Hung is there to follow the footsteps of her father, a revolutionary who just died in the hands of the assassins. The odd ball top martial expert who has degenerated to a beggar because of a woman sees this adventure (including death) as a way to escape his never-ending agony of self-pity and remorse. The compulsive gambler and fortune seeker who does anything for money finally does the only thing right in his life because of love for his ex-wife and estranged 8-year-old daughter. None of these people are initially motivated by noble revolutionary goals and yet it does not take anything away from their heroic deeds and sacrifices – thus is the magic wielded by the movie makers.
There are of course the good guys, the true revolutionaries, but as I said, I'm not going to try to cover all the characters. What must be said, however, is that the show belongs to WANG Xueqi, who portrays the character with most depth, a tycoon who starts out as a cautious financial contributor to the revolutionary course but refusing to have anything more to do with it. Conflict with his son who is dedicated to the course brings about a gradual change in him, eventually into an "ordinary hero". If you have seen Wang's performance in "Forever Entralled" (2008) you know the impeccable standard that you are entitled to expect from this actor, and he meets every bit of that expectation here.
Set, editing, camera work, action direction all become an integral part of this top-notch motion picture, which must be recognized as among the very best of Chinese language motion pictures in recent memory.
The plot may sound a little stretched, if you challenge the details, but it's the overall spirit that really matters. The story is wonderfully simple: Dr Sun Yat-sen, "father of modern China", came to British colony Hong Kong in the beginning of the 20th Century, for just one morning to meet a dozen revolutionaries from all over China to plan a major insurgence to overthrow the Qing imperial dynasty and form the first republic in China. Waiting for him is an army of assassins deployed from the imperial palace. He needed an hour with the fellow revolutionaries and that hour was critical because it would lay a foundation for a successful revolution. In order to provide him with the best possible chance of success, the local revolutionaries set up a decoy with a double going all over town, including visiting his aged mother. The first 80 minutes set up the story and established the characters; the last hour is all gut-spilling action.
The first part, lacking in action notwithstanding, is consistently engaging, establishing on the macro level the historical backdrop and on a micro level the characters (more about them later) in a fashion reminiscent of Kurosawa's "Seven Samurai". The palpable tension on the other hand will bring to mind "High Noon". The second part is simply the best action you've seen anywhere, period. Even more important is that this is not fighting just for the sake of fighting, but for a course established with heartfelt dedication, through characters that you will unreservedly root for. There'll be not a few heart-wrenching moments, be warned.
There is an entire spectrum of interesting characters, presented with various degrees of depth, as appropriate. I'm not going to mention all, or even a majority of them. The interesting thing is that they are all in this for different motivations. On the villains' side, we have the attention demanding HU Jun playing the chief assassin. Ironically, this is the most "Hollywood" of the characters, a nationalist fanatic to psychopathic proportions. I'm sure if you think hard, you can name half a dozen such ones from Hollywood war or war-related movies.
On the other side, all the heroes have distinct personalities and different motivations. The golden-hearted simple giant cum ex-Shoaling monk cum street snack vendor is there to "fight the bad guys" and that's good enough for him. Young rickshaw "chauffer" Ah Si doesn't know anything about how the greater world works but is willing to lay down his life any time for his kind-hearted employers who treat him like their family. Young girl Fang Hung is there to follow the footsteps of her father, a revolutionary who just died in the hands of the assassins. The odd ball top martial expert who has degenerated to a beggar because of a woman sees this adventure (including death) as a way to escape his never-ending agony of self-pity and remorse. The compulsive gambler and fortune seeker who does anything for money finally does the only thing right in his life because of love for his ex-wife and estranged 8-year-old daughter. None of these people are initially motivated by noble revolutionary goals and yet it does not take anything away from their heroic deeds and sacrifices – thus is the magic wielded by the movie makers.
There are of course the good guys, the true revolutionaries, but as I said, I'm not going to try to cover all the characters. What must be said, however, is that the show belongs to WANG Xueqi, who portrays the character with most depth, a tycoon who starts out as a cautious financial contributor to the revolutionary course but refusing to have anything more to do with it. Conflict with his son who is dedicated to the course brings about a gradual change in him, eventually into an "ordinary hero". If you have seen Wang's performance in "Forever Entralled" (2008) you know the impeccable standard that you are entitled to expect from this actor, and he meets every bit of that expectation here.
Set, editing, camera work, action direction all become an integral part of this top-notch motion picture, which must be recognized as among the very best of Chinese language motion pictures in recent memory.