愛 (LOVE) is being released in Taipei the weekend before Valentine's Day. This ensemble love movie is an who's who of the Taiwan movie sphere. 3 of the most righteous leading men around in Eddie Peng, Ethan Ruan, and Mark Chao lead the attack with director and actor Doze Niu. The ladies that hold these men as arm candy are Shu Qi, Ivy Chen and her look alike Amber Kuo with Zhong Guo star Vicki Zhao.
Enjoy the promo posters as they give a nice glimpse into the pairings in the movie.
Whatever your take on love is, this movie aims to tell you!
14 Blades (錦衣衛) is a 2010 film out of Hong Kong. The movie stars Donnie Yen, Vicki Zhao, Wu Chun, and Kate Tsai. If you're a fan of the old skool kung fu movies, you'll see plenty of guys from the Shaw Bros. heyday in this film.
Jinyi Wei is a special military police that serves the Emperor during the Ming Dynasty. Donnie Yen plays Qinglong, the leader of the Jinyi Wei. Given orders to retrieve a box by an eunich that's controlled the emperor, Qinglong is betrayed and wounded. Qinglong goes on the run by hiring a escort group to get him out of town. It is there that Qinglong meets Vicki Zhao's character of Qiao Hua. Hua is a tomboy and very impulsive. Qinglong and Hua embark on a journey to a city in the west. There, they meet Wu Chun's character of Sands. Sands is the leader of a group of thieves set on stealing from a group that just entered the city. Qinglong teams up with Sands. Both go after what they want.
The movie was pretty awesome when it came to the action sequences. Very fast editing harken back to the 90s a little bit, but the modern effects are all there as well. The story is a little hard to follow as the subplots are just filler.
If you're looking for action, this movie has it. If you're looking for a modern wuxia film with a touch of 90s, you'll also get it. And you're get a high recommendation from me to watch this.
Mulan (花木蘭) is a 2009 film out of China. The movie stars Vicky Zhao, Aloys Chen, and Jaychee Chan.
The story follows Mulan, who's spent her childhood learning martial arts from her fathers' soldier friends. Also from Mulan's village is Shiao Hu or Xiao Hu (translated to "little tiger"). When Rouran starts their descent into the middle kingdom, Mulan's villages' men are called to service, including her father, who's in bad health. Mulan instead goes in his place. Once there, Mulan befriends a high ranking offical, Wentai. Wentai eventually becomes Mulan's most trusted ally in both battle and out of battle. Both Wentai and Mulan rise through the ranks and become generals. However, Mulan quickly grows tired of the violence and starts to withdrawl and abandon her responsibilities. Wentai and Mulan have now developed feelings for each other, but it has caused tragedy to befall the rest of the army. Wentai fakes his death to get Mulan out of this situation. Eventually Mulan wakes up and starts being a strong General again. During their twelfth year of service, Mulan gets to go home. But there's a twist with Wentai. Of course.
The movie was extremely boring and I had a tough time watching it. Mulan in a nervous breakdown? Wentai and Mulan, a forbidden love? Man, I got through it though I am not better for it.
Heralded as a blockbuster, it was a major disappointment to me. Vicki Zhao continues to get work. It's about time to let some new blood into the mix and I don't mean Zhou Xun either. Wentai and Mulan was just the same couple from Painted Skin.
I picked up a rather crappy copy from my local renter. I should have asked him if the quality was any good. It wasn't and the subtitles were not removable. You know what that means...:)
One of the major differences between this installment and the Disney one is time. Rouran are from the 6th century. Mogols in the Disney film are from the 14th century. Also, there's no talking dragon. I was waiting and waiting, but none appeared.
The Longest Night in Shanghai (夜.上海) is a 2006 out of China. The movie stars Vicki Zhao and Motoki Masahiro. The supporting cast includes Sam Lee, Dylan Kuo, Takenaka Naoto, and Kitty Zhang.
Vicki Zhao plays a taxi driver that drives recklessly. Masahio Motoki plays a Japanese make up artist. On one faithful night, they meet for The longest night ever in the history of Shanghai!
I think the description from Netflix does it more justice:
A successful Japanese make-up artist collides with a tough-talking Shanghai taxi driver in this romantic dramedy that twists traditional roles by making the beauty expert a male and the cab driver a feisty female. Although he works in a glamorous industry, Naoki Mizushima (Masahiro Motoki) can't help but notice that his life is anything but beautiful. Can the uncouth Lin Xi (Vicki Zhao) help him make over his life for the better?
While watching the film, its funny that Naoki speaks to Lin in English, but Lin speaks to Naoki in Chinese.
The majority of the film is Japanese with it switching to Chinese when Lin is around.
