01-12-2014, 10:45 AM
Borrowed this from the library. It's undergone yet another title change, now called The Sorcerer and the White Snake. With another 20 or 30 iterations they're bound to get the title right.
This was disappointing but not without entertainment value. The action is so CGI'd and wired that it becomes just a kaleidoscope of flashing pixels. There is no sense of gravity to anything the actors do, which really makes it cartoonish. I'm appalled that so many in Hollywood and elsewhere have embraced this flashy zero-G action-scene approach, because to my mind it greatly cheapens the effect. While watching this, I began appreciating Merantau all the more. Sure, there was some wirework in that one, but not a lot. Merantau is -- barring the plot -- a very good martial arts film.
I've read two comments that Jet Li has made about this movie. 1) He says the only reason he did the movie was because the director assured him he would be doing very little fighting; and that turned out to be totally false. 2) He said the fight scenes in this movie were the most physically demanding he's ever done, because his opponents (mostly women) didn't know martial arts, so he had to constantly pull all his strikes while his opponents went full-bore at him.
The snake ladies are cheesy in a wholly different way than the snake ladies in the original. I did find them and the whole movie entertaining, though I'm embarrassed to say I dozed through the fox girls scene (LCF found that amusing). But my goodness there was a lot of waving hands and feet about and shooting out beams and whatnot, and flying about and crashing into things and causing mayhem.
I like snakes. I like snake women. This was a must-see for me. I'm glad I saw it and would recommend it, but at the same time be aware there is enough cheese to whiz a wizard even of Jet Li's caliber.
This was disappointing but not without entertainment value. The action is so CGI'd and wired that it becomes just a kaleidoscope of flashing pixels. There is no sense of gravity to anything the actors do, which really makes it cartoonish. I'm appalled that so many in Hollywood and elsewhere have embraced this flashy zero-G action-scene approach, because to my mind it greatly cheapens the effect. While watching this, I began appreciating Merantau all the more. Sure, there was some wirework in that one, but not a lot. Merantau is -- barring the plot -- a very good martial arts film.
I've read two comments that Jet Li has made about this movie. 1) He says the only reason he did the movie was because the director assured him he would be doing very little fighting; and that turned out to be totally false. 2) He said the fight scenes in this movie were the most physically demanding he's ever done, because his opponents (mostly women) didn't know martial arts, so he had to constantly pull all his strikes while his opponents went full-bore at him.
The snake ladies are cheesy in a wholly different way than the snake ladies in the original. I did find them and the whole movie entertaining, though I'm embarrassed to say I dozed through the fox girls scene (LCF found that amusing). But my goodness there was a lot of waving hands and feet about and shooting out beams and whatnot, and flying about and crashing into things and causing mayhem.
I like snakes. I like snake women. This was a must-see for me. I'm glad I saw it and would recommend it, but at the same time be aware there is enough cheese to whiz a wizard even of Jet Li's caliber.