4/10 - Minor spoilers are present that should not ruin anything out of the plot line.
This is not a movie I would recommend to anyone who likes movies and want a "proper" movie to watch for a night.
What should be added is: This movie is highly suitable for moviebuffs or those who teach in an area related to cinema. Those areas in the movie that are well made are really well made. Those areas that fail are clear and obvious, marking out their presence and their impact on the movie. The highs are high and the lows are really bloody low. The movie still retains a grain of interest. This is a big budget movie.
Pro's Those who scouted for locations earned 1 of those stars. Prop, costumes and wardrobe earned another one. Those who made the special effects earned yet another one. Lastly the classical plot earned a mentioning. Chen Chang & Aaron Kwok (Yin and Yang) as well as Wah Yuen also deserves being mentioned as they made solid performances despite what I'll share next. Also note that the budget wasn't small, that much is clear.
Con's The (far, very far) over the top martial arts (wirework a la Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon) simply was not good and did a HUGE disservice to the movie. Same with the magical (or energetic if you prefer) additions. It detracted one star - so bad and big was the impact of it (i very rarely detract stars).
The dialogue was out of place a lot of the time, but it felt construed (allmost as if someone had rewritten it completely, tampered with it from the beginning to the end).
Like in Hollywoods older days, explosions were put in for the sake of explosions, actually making some parts as when Chang & Kwok met more of a showpiece for the studio and what they can do rather than a needed addition to the movie.
The time of events (mixing modern warfare with classical martial arts did not work with the over the top effects).
Some of the moments did simply not line up and the rationality of the characters were out of place.
There were also jumps in time which were not smoothly done.
There was really badly done symbolism in it, forcing and as far as i know partly misinforming the viewer. Do not get me wrong, i like when these kinds of movies use symbolism (like recently Mr. Six) and the cinematography can be really effective and complimentary to the story - but it isn't here, due to how it was implemented. *To give one example; when Zhou bring a pillar of water up and knocks out Pengs effort. -Just having the courtyard contain water and some open plated fires (for one reason or another) could have allowed the same fight to take place without wireworks and over the top cgi effects.
The clear moviereferences baked in were out of place, if you do not even recognise the Matrix references please do not comment in this thread. - Drawing connotations to modern sci-fi in a classical martial arts film is just wrong. If the point is to say that Matrix lent from martial arts movies I do not think anyone in the world previously missed that.
And not to forget, an out of the blue circumcision near the start. Genital mutilation of men (or women) should be done by individuals when they are old enough to rule themselves, or give informed consent and take the action to visit a doctor by themselves (excluding when deformities are present etc).
So if you are someone who is interested in movies this is a must see, you will take a lot from it - both good and bad. This would be a perfect movie to use if you teach in a related subject as it has extremely well done areas mixed with extremely badly matched and done areas, but not much within the middle. It is rare in that way (yes there are similar movies but they are usually not this well done in other aspects and it's not as clear how bad impact some elements have).
Some moments could easily have been movie magic (to give two examples); The fight at the start (easily could have been something else with the exact same setting) but without the forced effects. The sweeping with the broom.
This is not a movie I would recommend to anyone who likes movies and want a "proper" movie to watch for a night.
What should be added is: This movie is highly suitable for moviebuffs or those who teach in an area related to cinema. Those areas in the movie that are well made are really well made. Those areas that fail are clear and obvious, marking out their presence and their impact on the movie. The highs are high and the lows are really bloody low. The movie still retains a grain of interest. This is a big budget movie.
Pro's Those who scouted for locations earned 1 of those stars. Prop, costumes and wardrobe earned another one. Those who made the special effects earned yet another one. Lastly the classical plot earned a mentioning. Chen Chang & Aaron Kwok (Yin and Yang) as well as Wah Yuen also deserves being mentioned as they made solid performances despite what I'll share next. Also note that the budget wasn't small, that much is clear.
Con's The (far, very far) over the top martial arts (wirework a la Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon) simply was not good and did a HUGE disservice to the movie. Same with the magical (or energetic if you prefer) additions. It detracted one star - so bad and big was the impact of it (i very rarely detract stars).
The dialogue was out of place a lot of the time, but it felt construed (allmost as if someone had rewritten it completely, tampered with it from the beginning to the end).
Like in Hollywoods older days, explosions were put in for the sake of explosions, actually making some parts as when Chang & Kwok met more of a showpiece for the studio and what they can do rather than a needed addition to the movie.
The time of events (mixing modern warfare with classical martial arts did not work with the over the top effects).
Some of the moments did simply not line up and the rationality of the characters were out of place.
There were also jumps in time which were not smoothly done.
There was really badly done symbolism in it, forcing and as far as i know partly misinforming the viewer. Do not get me wrong, i like when these kinds of movies use symbolism (like recently Mr. Six) and the cinematography can be really effective and complimentary to the story - but it isn't here, due to how it was implemented. *To give one example; when Zhou bring a pillar of water up and knocks out Pengs effort. -Just having the courtyard contain water and some open plated fires (for one reason or another) could have allowed the same fight to take place without wireworks and over the top cgi effects.
The clear moviereferences baked in were out of place, if you do not even recognise the Matrix references please do not comment in this thread. - Drawing connotations to modern sci-fi in a classical martial arts film is just wrong. If the point is to say that Matrix lent from martial arts movies I do not think anyone in the world previously missed that.
And not to forget, an out of the blue circumcision near the start. Genital mutilation of men (or women) should be done by individuals when they are old enough to rule themselves, or give informed consent and take the action to visit a doctor by themselves (excluding when deformities are present etc).
So if you are someone who is interested in movies this is a must see, you will take a lot from it - both good and bad. This would be a perfect movie to use if you teach in a related subject as it has extremely well done areas mixed with extremely badly matched and done areas, but not much within the middle. It is rare in that way (yes there are similar movies but they are usually not this well done in other aspects and it's not as clear how bad impact some elements have).
Some moments could easily have been movie magic (to give two examples); The fight at the start (easily could have been something else with the exact same setting) but without the forced effects. The sweeping with the broom.