07-15-2020, 08:17 AM
I went back for this again last night. Veronica Ngo is in it playing Mantis, which is basically the same character she plays in Bright (http://www.brotherhoodofdoom.com/doomFor...p?tid=4307), the right-hand heavy badass villainess with a minimum of lines. She's okay in it - fills her role - but it's not much of a role aside from kicking butts of good guys in an exaggerated malicious way and dying spectacularly in the end.
On reexamination, it's hard to say why this film didn't work. Sure, it's in the shadow of a classic, and there's definitely that. It's got a great cast - Michelle, Donnie, Veronica, Eugenia, Natasha, Harry, Jason... written by my personal friend John Fusco and directed by Yuen Woo-Ping. It is alleged to recall the original Wuxia, but I've only read the graphic novel and it was so long ago, I don't really remember. The plot feels laborious with backstory, which is common to that genre. There's some decent stuff but it all feels unpolished. The actors don't seem fully engaged, more reciting than really acting. The fights don't have that edge - the choreo is very YWP in its high-flying caricature, but it's sloppy especially with the wire work. Maybe it was Harvey Weinstein molesting all the actresses. His scandal has besmirched so many films in retrospect.
I think it's the accents. Only Michelle has a distinct Malay accent. The rest of the cast speak perfect English. It's like watching a Cowboy Western where everyone speaks the Queen's English.
I'd like to see Veronica in a Vietnamese drama. She can act. She didn't start in action but she's been typecast there for the most part in Hollywood, with the exception of Da 5 Bloods.
On reexamination, it's hard to say why this film didn't work. Sure, it's in the shadow of a classic, and there's definitely that. It's got a great cast - Michelle, Donnie, Veronica, Eugenia, Natasha, Harry, Jason... written by my personal friend John Fusco and directed by Yuen Woo-Ping. It is alleged to recall the original Wuxia, but I've only read the graphic novel and it was so long ago, I don't really remember. The plot feels laborious with backstory, which is common to that genre. There's some decent stuff but it all feels unpolished. The actors don't seem fully engaged, more reciting than really acting. The fights don't have that edge - the choreo is very YWP in its high-flying caricature, but it's sloppy especially with the wire work. Maybe it was Harvey Weinstein molesting all the actresses. His scandal has besmirched so many films in retrospect.
I think it's the accents. Only Michelle has a distinct Malay accent. The rest of the cast speak perfect English. It's like watching a Cowboy Western where everyone speaks the Queen's English.
I'd like to see Veronica in a Vietnamese drama. She can act. She didn't start in action but she's been typecast there for the most part in Hollywood, with the exception of Da 5 Bloods.
Shadow boxing the apocalypse