Reviews of HK/U.S films

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"Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" (2000)

"Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" stars Chow Yun Fat as a retiring warrior called Li Mu Bai who is giving up his prized sword toa master. He has come from a period of meditation, which he found disturbing, and wants to put his warrior days behind him. He is co-stared by Michelle Yeoh who plays Yu Shu Lien, an equally gifted warrior in martial arts, who once was in love with the brother of Li Mu Bai, but he was killed in battle. She now has feelings for Li but won't show them to him in respect for his brother. Li, aftergiving his priceless sword to a master and close friend, finds the sword is stolen by the beautiful Jen played by Zhang Ziyi. Li must get the sword back, and he is aided in his quest for what is right, by Yu Shu Lien. Zhang is a student of Jade Fox ,a rutheless martial artist who is known for her stealing of a secret martial arts manual, and the murder of Li's former Master.

With these main characters, and also Zhang Ziyi's true love interest, unfolds a truly engrossing story which although is long travels at a lightening pace. The acting by all the leads is brilliant, and all the supporting cast are flawless.The story is complicated but is easy to follow, with Ang Lee showing the world what a great directer he is.The cinematography is brilliant especially in the beautiful natural surroundings where the film's characters often are. The plot is excellently constructed and all the characters are well develloped.The films music score has a variety of classic chinesemusic pieces, and are often emotionally stirring, and add to the films authentic atmosphere. The film settings are beautifully colourful and very realistic for the time period the film tries to replicate .

Just the things I have said so far are reasons to go and watch this film, but it is all topped off by amazingly choreographed fight scenes, which are furious and dazzlingly over the top. These fight scenes were directed by Yuen Wo Ping who is famous for his work on "The Matrix", but "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" is a far superior film in every aspect. I was highly impressed by And Lee's direction because he blended classic story telling with jaw dropping action to produce one very entertaing film. The use of "wires" was brilliant in this film, where warriors can fly from rooftop to rooftop.

This is a great example of excellent world cinema which is hugely vibrant, fresh, and acclaimed by both critics and audiences. If you only see one foriegn movie this year, make sure you see "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon", because it is such an outstanding film which is guaranteed to satisfy.

"Gorgeous" (1999)

"Gorgeous" is Jackie Chans attempt at a romantic comedy.From start to finish I was waiting for a fantastic stunt or a brilliantly choreographed fight scene but the film never delivered. The film's story line is realy poor and all the moments in the film that are suposed to be funny are very corny. The whole movie is full of cheesy moments and the dubbing although not the worst I have ever seen is very annoing. The action isn't very good except for the fight scene around the motor bike useing several baseball bats which was pretty good. This was a very disappointing film for me and I recomend that you steer clear from it and see one of Jackie's better movies.

"The Corrupter"

"The Corruptor" is Chow Yun Fat's second American production and it co stars Mark Wallburg. The filmconcerns a young police officer who is transferedto the local China Town district. He finds it hard to find acceptance and respect by Chow who is well established in the district. This film ,unlike "The Replacement Killers", gives Chow Yun Fat much more dialogue and opportunities to show his character's personality. The story line is good but not great and the action scenes are not up to the standard of John Woo but overall the film is quite entertaining and exceeded my expectations.

"The Replacement Killers"

"The Replacement Killers" is Chow Yun Fat's firstAmerican movie. The film tells the story of John an assasin (Chow Yun Fat) who refuses to kill one of his targets who happens to be a seven year old boy. The assasin then meets a passport forger ,an atractive female who is not bad with a gun. The twoof them eventualy join forces and battle aggainst a teem of assasins out to kill John. The films story is reminicent of John Woo's "The Killer" but fails to reach the brillience of John Woo's action scenes. The film has good performances from the two leeds but the film lacks in story line and action. I was a litle disappointed with this film but it is still worthy of viewing for fans of Chow Yun Fat.

"Romeo Must Die"

Jet Li stars in this action movie which is his first leeding role in a U.S production. The film concerns two rivaling families one is African American and the other is Chinese. The film'saction scenes are done with simular special effectsto the hit movie "The Matrix" and are quite good.The fight scene were Jet uses a broken fire hose as a weapon is fantastic and so is the car chase. The story line is pretty average but is not that bad in comparison to other action movies. The film also has some quite funny moments one being the footbal match in the park. I found the final fight scene to be disappointing as it wasn't quite as spectacular as some of the earlier fight scenes. Overall the film has an o.k plot with some realy cool action and I think most action fans will quite enjoy it.

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HK / U.S film reviews... Hong Kong has bean a exporter of stars and directors to Hollywood since Bruce Lee in the 1970's. Today stars like Chow Yun Fat, Jackie Chan and Jet Li have broken into Hollywood and this is happining more often as years pass. One of the more recent films of this category is "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon". This is one of the few films to realy become an Oscar contender in recent years that involves a HK star or Directer. There are also films on this page that are of the "strait to video category" like the forgetable Jackie Chan film "Gorgeous".
"Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" (2000) "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" stars Chow Yun Fat as a retiring warrior called Li Mu Bai who is giving up his prized sword toa master. He has come from a period of meditation, which he found disturbing, and wants to put his warrior days behind him. He is co-stared by Michelle Yeoh who plays Yu Shu Lien, an equally gifted warrior in martial arts, who once was in love with the brother of Li Mu Bai, but he was killed in battle. She now has feelings for Li but won't show them to him in respect for his brother. Li, aftergiving his priceless sword to a master and close friend, finds the sword is stolen by the beautiful Jen played by Zhang Ziyi. Li must get the sword back, and he is aided in his quest for what is right, by Yu Shu Lien. Zhang is a student of Jade Fox ,a rutheless martial artist who is known for her stealing of a secret martial arts manual, and the murder of Li's former Master. With these main characters, and also Zhang Ziyi's true love interest, unfolds a truly engrossing story which although is long travels at a lightening pace. The acting by all the leads is brilliant, and all the supporting cast are flawless.The story is complicated but is easy to follow, with Ang Lee showing the world what a great directer he is.The cinematography is brilliant especially in the beautiful natural surroundings where the film's characters often are. The plot is excellently constructed and all the characters are well develloped.The films music score has a variety of classic chinesemusic pieces, and are often emotionally stirring, and add to the films authentic atmosphere. The film settings are beautifully colourful and very realistic for the time period the film tries to replicate . Just the things I have said so far are reasons to go and watch this film, but it is all topped off by amazingly choreographed fight scenes, which are furious and dazzlingly over the top. These fight scenes were directed by Yuen Wo Ping who is famous for his work on "The Matrix", but "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" is a far superior film in every aspect. I was highly impressed by And Lee's direction because he blended classic story telling with jaw dropping action to produce one very entertaing film. The use of "wires" was brilliant in this film, where warriors can fly from rooftop to rooftop. This is a great example of excellent world cinema which is hugely vibrant, fresh, and acclaimed by both critics and audiences. If you only see one foriegn movie this year, make sure you see "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon", because it is such an outstanding film which is guaranteed to satisfy.
"Gorgeous" (1999) "Gorgeous" is Jackie Chans attempt at a romantic comedy.From start to finish I was waiting for a fantastic stunt or a brilliantly choreographed fight scene but the film never delivered. The film's story line is realy poor and all the moments in the film that are suposed to be funny are very corny. The whole movie is full of cheesy moments and the dubbing although not the worst I have ever seen is very annoing. The action isn't very good except for the fight scene around the motor bike useing several baseball bats which was pretty good. This was a very disappointing film for me and I recomend that you steer clear from it and see one of Jackie's better movies.
"The Corrupter" "The Corruptor" is Chow Yun Fat's second American production and it co stars Mark Wallburg. The filmconcerns a young police officer who is transferedto the local China Town district. He finds it hard to find acceptance and respect by Chow who is well established in the district. This film ,unlike "The Replacement Killers", gives Chow Yun Fat much more dialogue and opportunities to show his character's personality. The story line is good but not great and the action scenes are not up to the standard of John Woo but overall the film is quite entertaining and exceeded my expectations.
"The Replacement Killers" "The Replacement Killers" is Chow Yun Fat's firstAmerican movie. The film tells the story of John an assasin (Chow Yun Fat) who refuses to kill one of his targets who happens to be a seven year old boy. The assasin then meets a passport forger ,an atractive female who is not bad with a gun. The twoof them eventualy join forces and battle aggainst a teem of assasins out to kill John. The films story is reminicent of John Woo's "The Killer" but fails to reach the brillience of John Woo's action scenes. The film has good performances from the two leeds but the film lacks in story line and action. I was a litle disappointed with this film but it is still worthy of viewing for fans of Chow Yun Fat.
"Romeo Must Die" Jet Li stars in this action movie which is his first leeding role in a U.S production. The film concerns two rivaling families one is African American and the other is Chinese. The film'saction scenes are done with simular special effectsto the hit movie "The Matrix" and are quite good.The fight scene were Jet uses a broken fire hose as a weapon is fantastic and so is the car chase. The story line is pretty average but is not that bad in comparison to other action movies. The film also has some quite funny moments one being the footbal match in the park. I found the final fight scene to be disappointing as it wasn't quite as spectacular as some of the earlier fight scenes. Overall the film has an o.k plot with some realy cool action and I think most action fans will quite enjoy it.