Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame - 通天神探 狄仁傑 - 狄仁傑之通天帝國

Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame (通天神探狄仁傑/狄仁傑之通天帝國) is a 2010 film out of Hong Kong. The movies stars Andy Lau, Li Bing Bing, Carina Lau, and Tony Leung Ka Fai. Tsui Hark plays both producer and director. The movie is based on China's first and only female Empress Wu Zetian. Detective Dee was a high official during that time.

We Zetian is on the eve of announcing to the world that she's the boss of China! To show off, a 60 story statue is being built. When some mysterious deaths start, the queen sends for Dee to solve the mystery. Dee than starts on a deep exploration of the area around the kingdom to find the answers. But as the clues start to add up, they are thwarted and ambushed quite often. Do not fret as Detective Dee is on the case.

This was a pretty amazing film. The CG was pretty good for a HK produced film. More importantly, the story of mystery and historical doom kept me on the ride. Andy puts on a masterful performance that I think will deserve award type recognition. The story was wrapped in intrigue and mystery. The exact type of movie that keeps me engaged and thinking.

A must see for you wuxia fans as well.

Triple Tap - 鎗王之王

Triple Tap (鎗王之王) is a 2010 film out of Hong Kong. It stars Louis Koo, Daniel Wu, Charlene Choi, and Li BingBing. The supporting cast include Alex Fong, Lam Suet, Chapman To Andrew Lin, and Michael Wong. The film is directed by Derek Lee.

The movie starts with a shooting competition with the first place going to Louis Koo as Kwan. Second place is Daniel Wu as Chong. Kwan congratulates Chong on his improvement. On the way back home, Kwan notices a bank robbery taking place. The robbers start to kill the armored car's securtity guards and ends up killing a traffic cop that comes to the scene. Kwan takes out 3 of the 4 robbers. Calls the police and is named an hero. Chong is part of the police and ends up the lead investigator of the case. But instead of setting Kwan free, he sends Kwan through the prosecution. But the leads end of Chong on the case and he begins to question if Kwan's presence at the scene was coincidence or planned. Chong starts to dig deeper into Kwan's past. Kwan on the other hand starts to make maneuvers to quit his company and retire to a life of traveling.



Signature Derek Lee film. Which two of his favorite actors of late in Louis Koo and Daniel Wu. The film was really well made and the pacing was good. But you could predict where the story was going. And it relied on something that's all too common on a CSI show, showing only a little portion of the crime and than filling it in as the movie goes on. I always feel like that's an un-creative way of telling a story. Which is perfectly fine a show like CSI, but not for a movie.

But the movie was well made and suspenseful nonetheless. I was engaged the whole time and trying to figure it out along the way. Worth its A-List billing.

風聲 - The Message

風聲 (The Message) is a 2009 film out of China. The person behind the film is Taiwanese film-maker, Chen Kuo-Fu. The film stars Zhou Xun, Li Bing Bing, Zhang Hanyu, Huang Xiao Ming, Alec Su, Wang Zhi Wen, and Ying Da. The film is based in 1942 Nanjing during the Japanese occupation.



After the fall of the nationalist Chinese capital of Nanjing during the Nanjing Massacre, the Japanese have set up a puppet regime. But an underground resistance movement has been established and they have successfully assassinated many high level Japanese officers. The puppet government works in conjunction with the Japanese find that there may be a mole in their ranks. They than set out on a spy hunt. With a fake message sent and seen by only 5 people, these 5 are brought to a secluded castle where they are interrogated. One by one, they are subject to psychological games. Will any of these 5 survive? Will they turn on each other? What horrific methods will the captors be subjugated to?



The movie has a pretty star studded cast. Huang Xiao Ming plays the Japanese interrogator out to find the spy. Zhou Xun, Li Bing Bing, Zhang Hanyu, and Alec Su play the captors. Their job is the survive and get out alive. When put in that situation, how will you react?



I've been a big Alec Su and Li Bing Bing fan for many years now. From Alec Su's post military service days to Li Bing Bing's turn in wuxia dramas. I haven't seen much of Alec these last few years. Li Bing Bing has transitioned from a wuxia lady to leading lady. Although both have matured with age, they are still both very good.

Zhang Hanyu is starting to grow on me. Zhang has quietly established himself as one of the top tier actors of China.



I liked the movie for the most part. There are quite a few subplots that you won't see in the movie summaries that give the storyline added complexity and meaning.



The Message has done well at the box office in China and Taiwan so far. I don't think it'll make it here to the states other than in film festivals and eventually DVD. I bought an imported China version from a local DVD place for $10.

There are lots and lots of promo and press junkets for this movie. I've included some of the ones that I enjoyed.

The Forbidden Kingdom - 功夫之王

Originally posted on xanga.



The Forbidden Kingdom (功夫之王) stars Jet Li, Jackie Chan, Li Bing Bing, Collin Chou, and Liu "Cyrstal" Yi Fei.  The story takes some of the concepts and characters from "The Journey West". Specifically, the Monkey King.



The Forbidden Kingdom stars Jet Li, Jackie Chan, Li Bing Bing, Collin Chou, and Liu "Cyrstal" Yi Fei. The story takes some of the concepts and characters from "The Journey West". Specifically, the Monkey King.



There is actually a lot of action in this film and features a lengthy dual between Jet Li and Jackie Chan. The main protagonist is a white guy from South Boston getting sucked into Ancient China. After seeing the "making of" on the DVD, I can see how the movie was sold to a studio to fund. Its the white guys saving the Chinese. Since they can't save themselves. I digress.



The special effects are a little above average as a lot of it sorta looked fake. But overall, the fighting was quite good.

As for the storyline, you'll have to get over it. It's not that great. But the movie is beautifully shot. Uses lush landscapes and it shot entirely in China.

I hope a sequel comes of this. I'd like them to take more chances the next time around. But it'll still be geared towards an American audience.

I know that Crystal Liu had spent some of her pre teen years in New York. Seems that she never completely mastered it as she has a "FOB" accent. I don't know if it is on purpose due to the style of the film, all the Asian ppl that speak Mandarin, have a slight accent. Like Li Bing Bing and the supreme emperor seemed to have dubbed voices. Crystal can be a cross over star if she's willing to sacrifice projects in China in order to spend time in the US. Who knows. I hope she does stay mainly in China as production there is faster and you would see more of her vs. in the US, where productions take a long time and seeing her on screen is alot less.

As for Jet Li and Jackie Chan, they seemed to play off each other and I hope for more of this in the future.

I'll try to get a hold of the DVD when I see it in the 4.99 and under bins.

The movie pay homage to the Shaw Bro movies in a quite a few ways. The opening credits takes you through a bunch of the Shaw Bros artwork from the 60s/70s. Crystal Liu says "Come Drink With Me" in one of the fight scenes. Makes no sense. Its just an homage including the name Golden Sparrow.

The Knot (雲水謠/云水谣)

Originally posted on xanga.



I finally finished The Knot (雲水謠/云水谣) today. I had been trying to watch the movie with my wife on and off for like a year now. I finally stopped waiting and finished the last 75%.

The movie stars Aloys Chen (Chen Kun), Vivian Hsu, Li Bing Bing, and Isabella Leong.

The movie starts in what appears to be New York and than jumps to a few other places. Some of the places are Taipei, Shanghai, and Tibet. There are quite a few more, but I wasn't paying all that much attention when they moved around a lot during the war segments.

Maybe because I didn't watch the whole movie at once, I didn't feel the connection between the main characters. I didn't get the point of the film in its entirety. The movie was "epic" in that it spans many years and the main storyline spanned 15 or so years.

Love is born. Love is forced to separate. Love is forced to wait. Is Love patient enough to let your life go to waste?

I've always wondered how these stories go. The Love that is born is in mere moments, but the wait is so long. So long that it is forced to die or leads to a life of confinement.

I guess if these types stories are based on true events, I feel very sorry for the parties involved. The agony of waiting and waiting. Is it the right choice? Should you just move on? What's the threshold?

I am a fan and Vivian Hsu and Li Bing Bing. I was hoping for more of the story to develop for Vivian Hsu, but it didn't happen.

I also noticed some veteran Taiwanese actors during the Taiwan segments.

All in all, I would recommend this. The production value was very high and the acting was very nice. However, the story is a little suspect and leaves you wondering. And not in a good way.

Sword of the Outlaw (長劍相思/长剑相思)

Originally posted on xanga.



Sword of the Outlaw (2004/2005) is a wuxia drama series starring Aloys Chen and Li Bing Bing. Running at a brisk 35 episodes.

Like many of the other non Jin Yong and Gu Long wuxia series, the endings are a big problem. They start out great, present great characters and develop them so you feel for them. But the plot isn't strong enough to make it last the remaining episodes. As is the case with Sword of the Outlaw. Strong strong first 20 episodes. Very very weak last 15 episodes.

First 20 episodes develops the story and you really care for the main protagonists. But when the "mystery" is solved, the resulting last few episodes are very weak. So many plot points and characters are left unexplained.

Poison Fu is used quite liberally and the cures are even more mysterious. The ending is totally unexpected. The main protagonist is just an after thought for the last 15 episodes.

Started out great. Ending was weak. If you want to get a taste of non Jin Yong or Gu Long wuxia, this is actually quite entertaining for the most part. Luckily for me, I could fast forward all the crappy parts.