Donnie Yen's latest effort, "
The Legend of the Fist: Chen Zhen", is a near total disappointment. The plot goes nowhere, Shu Qi is totally miscast, Huang Bo is dubbed by Chapman To (who should've taken the role in the first place) and Donnie Yen is a masked vigilante. About the only joy in this dreary movie is that you get to see Donnie beating the crap out of Japs and Germans. Not worth watching in the cinema. Rent the DVD instead. Or better still, catch Bruce Lee's original "
Fist of Fury" or Jet Li's "
Fist of Legend" or even Donnie Yen's ATV series - they all feature the same character, Chen Zhen, except those other portrayals mattered because there was a story to tell.
The best thing about Hong Kong films is that the film-makers never fail to spring a surprise now and again that turns out to be an absolute gem. Just as I was about to give up on kungfu movies after the above "Chen Zhen" movie, Tsui Hark delivers the best
wuxia film of his life. "
Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame" is sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo good a wuxia film that you can even forgive Tsui Hark for the unwatchable "
Seven Swords".
The thing about Tsui Hark is that you never know what you'll be getting from the man after queuing up and buying the ticket. This is the man who made the original "
Legend of Zu" in the 1980s and the terrible sequel about 15 years later. This is the man who gave us the excellent "
Swordsman I & II" and then returned to make the crap-fest that was "
Swordsman III: Invincible Asia Returns". He's also the same bloke who wowed us with the original "
Once Upon A Time In China" only to crap all over our cinematic taste-buds with "
Once Upon A Time In China And America". And then there was "
Seven Swords". He promised the world that it was to be the first of a series of films that would totally revolutinise wuxia. All we got was a headache after all the shaky camera work and incoherent plot.
Then, there's
Detective Dee. This, my friends, is the real wuxia revolution that the mad genius Tsui Hark promised. Leon Lai is nowhere to be seen. No Donnie Yen either. He brought in Andy Lau, Tony Leung Kar Fai (the better "
Tony Leung" in my book!), Karina Lau (wife of the other not-so-good but artsy-fartsy "
Tony Leung"!), Li Bing-Bing and even cameos by veterans Richard Ng and Teddy Robin (who are actually the same person!). Aside from the strong cast, Sammo Hung lends a hand as the martial arts choreographer so that means no more Lau Kar Leung or shaky-camerawork. Fight scenes are so good and clear as to make your eyes pop out. The sets are lavish, detailed and breath-taking. Most of all, the story is so good that by the end of the two-hour film, you'll be screaming for a sequel. Wuxia films done so well is magical - and Tsui Hark has done it again, giving us the perfect blend of history, fantasy, romance, mystery, angst, action, kungfu, strategy, imperial intrigues, murders and even a touch of lesbianism much missed after the abortive "
Invincible Asia" stuff in the 1990s! Watch this multiple times on the large screen - but don't watch it at IOI Mall (GSC) Puchong. The film caught fire twice and we all had to wait for the projectionist to replace the film. In Tarantino's "Grindhouse", the burning film was a special effect for nostalgia's sake. In Puchong, it's the real thing!!!
