This one won't be for everyone, but I really enjoyed this unique kung fu film. Set in China just prior to the rise of the Japanese empire and World War II (and then carrying through the time of Japanese occupation), the story centers itself around a small martial arts community that is learning to deal with the changing industrialization of the world around them. Kung fu and martial arts are no longer important in a world that is more concerned with business and less with tradition. The undertone, albeit very subtle and not well developed, is how an occupied people learns how to deal with finding a balance between the old and new worlds. This undercurrent is easy to miss, however, as there is also a LOT of really cool kung fu going on.
The hero of the story is proud nobleman (?) Ip. Ip is an incredibly well respected member of the community who seems to have an endless supply of money that allows him to dote on his wife and child while courting his relatives who are trying to start new businesses in industrializing China. Once the occupation sets in, however, Ip is kind of out of luck. As an "investor" of sorts, he doesn't really have a skill that will help him feed his family while under occupation. Well, no skill except for the fact he is the biggest, baddest martial artist in the surrounding area. A true disciplined 'artist,' he doesn't flaunt his skill, but it certainly comes in handy in several spots along the way...
Ultimately, this is a story about an outmoded people under occupation. It isn't a happy story... despite all the really cool kung fu. Being an occupied people is oppressive and horrible, and you feel that in this story... if you look for it.
The story aside, the movie is extremely well choreographed, and the look is fantastic. The acting is well done, and you really will feel for Ip and the people of his community before the movie is over. But the movie wasn't quite perfect. For the most part, the undercurrents I'm speaking about are revelations that I've had after thinking about the movie a while later, as the treatment that these issues get in the film are honestly fairly superficial -- but I don't think I've inserted them there in retrospect. Another unfortunate aspect of the film for me personally, and it is really due more to the availability of the movie I saw rather than a flaw in the film itself, is that the movie was dubbed into English. While the voiceover work was very smooth, there were gaps in the film as only the Chinese was dubbed into English. The Japanese was not translated. And since this was a dubbed film, there were no subtitles available, which meant that there were sections of the movie that were simply lost because they took place with the Japanese characters.
Overall, I really enjoyed this movie as it was visually attractive, and there was a meaty story beyond the excellent martial arts. Highly recommended to fans of martial arts films.
Movie to Skip:Visioneers
If you saw The Hangover and fell in love with the comedy acting of Zach Galifinakis as the awkward brother-in-law, then you'll probably be disappointed by this movie. One of two things made this movie kind of a snoozer, but I'm not sure where to place the blame. Either: 1) the movie was having an identity crises and couldn't decide if it was going for 'dark humor' or just 'dark'; or 2) Galifinakis just isn't funny enough to hold his own. Either way, this movie just wasn't as entertaining as I hoped it would be. I really do enjoy dystopia-centric films, and I love dark humor, but this one just didn't deliver either one. I was easily as dissatisfied with this movie as the characters in the film where dissatisfied with the quality of their lives. Perhaps the ability to transfer that emotional blase to the audience was the point of the film, but that seems a tad unnecessary given how easily any poorly written movie can do the same thing. Nope, this movie just didn't know what it wanted to be, and I think Galifinakis just got caught in the cross-hairs... I hope - for his sake. I hate to say it, but this one is probably a movie to skip.
