As the Light Goes Out - 救火英雄

救火英雄 (As The Light Goes Out) is an 2014 film out of Hong Kong. The movie stars Nicholas Tse. The rest of the supporting cast include Shawn Yue, Simon Yam, Hu Jun, Bai Bing, and Andy On.



On the eve of Christmas Eve, a power grid station is determined to keep the energy flowing to the all of Hong Kong. When a factory near one of the pipes for energy is disrupted, its up the brave firemen of the Hong Kong fire division to contain it. The crew goes in to save the trapped people and have to fight their way out. On top of this drama is the political drama of promotions and hurt feelings from the fire station. Add to is kids of the firemen are also trapped, you got yourself a story.



This was a Hong Kong movie through and through. Even with the addition of Hu Jun and Bai Bing to give it a little "mainland" feel, it was still very HK. Which is why I liked it so much. I got me back to those days of intense HK movies with extreme situations that put our heroes mettle to the test. If the movie was to end on a sad note, it should. If it were to end on a happy note, it would. In the case of this movie, it ended the way it should have.

This movie was atop of the HK box office at the start of year. It did the same on the Mainland front a few weeks later. It's worth the ride.

The Bullet Vanishes - 消失的子彈

The Bullet Vanishes (消失的子彈) is an 2012 film out of Hong Kong. The movie stars Nicholas Tse, Sean Lau, and Yang Mi. The movie was released here in Los Angeles the same weekend it was release in Zhong Guo and Hong Kong. It did modest business in the USA.



The movie follows two detectives investigating a murder in a factory. The murder victim was killed, but the bullet vanished. Thus the two investigators set out on the quest to find out who killed these people. The investigation goes from rabbit hole to the next. I can't reveal much more less I give the story away.

The movie was pretty good. Think Sherlock Holmes with two Hong Kong doods in 20s shanghai gear with a modern twist. The way they go about it is very crafty and does leave me wanting more. Part two please.

For Hong Kong movie buffs, this is a much watch. I watched at a local AMC.

Shaolin - 新少林寺

Shaolin (新少林寺) is an 2011 film out of Hong Kong. The movies stars Andy Lau and Nicholas Tse. The supporting cast includes Fan Bing-Bing and Jacky Wu. For some reason, they list Jackie Chan as an cameo. Jackie Chan's role is much more than an cameo. The abbot of Shaolin appeared in the first Shaolin temple movie of 1982 alongside Jet Li.



After the Qing Dynasty, there was this Warlord Era in Zhong Guo. During that time, warlords fought for territory amongst each other. Andy Lau plays one of these warlords and is shown to do anything to retain his power, even take the life of his shown brother. Nicholas Tse plays Andy's right hand man. Fan Bing Bing plays Andy's wife. On a night when Andy was to rid himself of his shown brother, he is betrayed by Nicholas. Whom takes the power of both warlords in one night. Andy's chased down by men trying to eliminate him and escapes to Shaolin with his injured daughter. However, the mortal wounds are too much and the daughter dies. Andy is than taken in by Jackie's character, a cook at the foot of Shaolin Mountain. It is there that Andy comes to grips with the consequences of his power struggle and joins the monk-hood of Shaolin. However, when Nicholas is found to be an evil general causing innocents to die, Andy steps out to make a difference.



The movie was well made and well paced. But I had very little emotional attachment to Andy's character. Through the reform, I didn't care. Which made for a long 2 hour watch. Long 2 hour watch. I am saying it again, 2 plus hours! Wow, they could have done this movie in one and a half hours. Because there was so little character development, many extra exercises were forced on the audience to see the just how bad or good one of the characters are.



As an high profile movie that was even shown in the theaters in the US, this movie was well made and had extremely good looking actors. However, the entertainment value could have used some help and the length trimmed. In all, I can't recommend this movie due to its excessive length in light of the story told.

Big Shot - 大人物

Big Shot (大人物) is a 2007 wuxia series out of China. The main stars are Nicholas Tse, Angelica Lee, Yan Kuan, Liu Tao, and Zhao Qing. The supporting cast include Tang Yi Fei, Yang Jia, Xiong Nai Jin, and Yang Huai Ming. The version I watched runs a smooth 40 episodes, but its listed as 31 in drama wiki.

The Cast
Nicholas Tse as Yang Fan
Angelica Lee as Tian Si Si
Yan Kuan as Qin Ge
Liu Tao as Gong Zi Chu (Chu Chu)
Zhao Qing as Fei Wu Ji
Si Qin Gao Li as Zhang Hao Er
Tang Yi Fei as Qian Ning
Ren Tian Ye as Liu Qing

The Story

There is a metal masked man that been terrorizing Wu Ling for decades. The masked man has his grips in many activities. Yang Fan is the son of a successful general. Yang Fan is sent to Meteor Clan to study at an early age and has the double duty of finding out its dirty secrets too. However, he's engaged to the daughter of a very rich business man in the capital, Tian Si Si. Si Si is as annoying as heck and wants to get out in the Jiang Hu and see it for herself. However, the night before their wedding, Yang Fan is killed and replaced. No one knows this and not even the replacement Yang Fan. The two get married, but Si Si has more hate than love for her new husband. Can Yang Fan investigate and find out if the Meteor Garden is evil and who is that masked man controlling all those puppets.

My Thoughts
The series was pretty enjoyable for the most part. The wuxia mythos were all there. Strange kung fu, lots and lots of clans, Shaolin monks, cool swords, flying when convenient, and Chu Liu Xiang! Haha, Chu Liu Xiang was in this film. It was also weird that the later half of the series shifted away from the stars, Yang Fan and Si Si. A good third of the series shifted to a snowy mountain adventure that didn't include them. It was strange! And than the last story arc of 45 or so minutes brings them back?! But since they had the Gu Long formula to fall back on, the story wasn't a complete disaster. Nicholas Tse had some really bad acting in this series as well. Tse's acting in Beast Stalker and The Stool Pigeon was completely absent in this series. Angelica's lone venture into wuxia dramas should be considered a complete failure too. Angelica should stick to movies and not play annoying teenager roles. Si Si was seriously annoying for half of the series and it was just strange to see the 30 something Angelica doing it. However bad the acting of the two leads were, the story was the drawing point for me.

This series also features some easy on the eyes female leads. Liu Tao as Chu Chu was stunning and had a fair amount of screen time. Si Qin Gao Li was a welcome surprise as Zhang Hao Er. Si grew on me and I eventually came to appreciate her beauty. Tang Yi Fei stole the show for me. Tang was stunning and her scenes kept me engaged. I hope to see more of Tang. And Xiong Nai Jin rounds out the last of the beauties.

The Stool Pigeon - 線人

The Stool Pigeon (線人) is a 2010 film out of Hong Kong. The movie stars Nick Cheung, Nicholas Tse, and Kwai Lun-mei. Supporting cast include Liu Kai-Chi, Lu Yi, Miao Pu, and Philip Keung.

Nick Cheung plays Lee, a police officer that uses informants to crack cases. The beginning story is Lee at an exchange and the informant is identified because the deal goes bad. The informant is subsequently tracked down and brutally beat up. To the point that the informant is not mentally challenged. Fast forward 1 year and another case comes up. Lee finds Car Ghost, played by Nicholas Tse, to be his informant. Car Ghost has connections to Barbarian, a jewel thief. Car Ghost gets in with his gang as the get away driver. Along the way, we find out more about both Lee and Car Ghost's background. How will this relationship end?

The movie was pretty intense and very very violent. I was actually taking back by the grittiness of the fighting. I wasn't expecting the fighting to be the way it way. The story was also very engaging. This time, its still the same cat and mouse game of cop going after the bad guy. But this time, it isn't a an undercover cop, but an informant. The movie explores that dynamic with an exploration between both the informant and the handler.

I highly recommend this film if you're into Dante Lam films. It was a little bit of a let down in comparison to "The Beast Stalker", but that movie was in a league of its own.

The Storm Warriors - 風雲II - 風雲2

The Storm Warriors (風雲II/風雲2) is 2009 film out of Hong Kong. The movie stars Aaron Kwok and Ekin Cheng. The supporting cast include Simon Yam, Charlene Choi, Nicholas Tse, Tiffany Tang Yan, and Kenny Ho. The movie is a sequel to the 1998 film, Storm Riders.

The movie starts with the capture of Nameless, Storm, and many other jiang hu warriors. They are captured by Lord Godless and his son, Heart. However, many of them do make an escape. Lord Godless has also been given all power by the emperor. Nameless and Lord Godless have a intense fight, but Nameless is fighting hurt and cannot defeat Godless. They all escape and Godless's men start to look for them. Wind, who was not captured, comes and aids in their escape.

After they escaped, Storm and Wind are given instructions by Nameless to seek out Lord Wicked for help. Once there, Wind is chosen by Lord Wicked to become one with a wicked demon power. Storm is than trained by Nameless.

Once Storm and Wind are trained in their arts, they go after Lord Godless and defeat him. But Wind's no longer himself, but possessed by the wicked demon eye. Storm and Wind than go at it. They fight to a standstill, but the cliff around them crumbles and Storm finally cuts the demon eye to restore Wind. But Storm falls to his demise off the cliff.



How can the sequel match the original, produced more than ten years after the original, to live up to the hype? You can't, so you just go with the flow. The movie starts off in a confusing place. How did Lord Godless capture all these heroes? Why did they escape so easily? But to the credit of the movie, it says, "forget the story, bring on the fighting". The movie is seriously 75% fighting. Swordplay fantasy fighting. CGI, slow mo, "chi" all thrown in there for good measure.

What should you expect, you should expect a film that says "to hell with character development" and say yes to "computer style fighting". This is not your Jet Li style wuxia film, but a 2009 CGI extravaganza.

I never did read the comics so I am not all that familiar with all the characters of the story, but if you watched Storm Rider: Clash of Evils (風雲決), some of the plot points are also used from there.

Bodyguards and Assassins - 十月圍城

Bodyguards and Assassins (十月圍城) is a 2009 film out of Hong Kong. The movie stars Donnie Yen, Leon Lai, Nicholas Tse, Li Yuchun, Wang Xueqi, Hu Jun, Tony Leung, Eric Tsang, Simon Yam, and Fan Bingbing. The movie is based on visit to Hong Kong by Sun Yat-sen in 1905.

Sun Yat-sen will touch down in Hong for a mere 1 hour to talk to the revolutionaries. But the Qing officers don't want that to happen and would like to assassinate him while he's in Hong Kong. Enter Wang Xueqi as the money behind the supporters based in Hong Kong. The people you see in the poster all work to protect him. And one that wants to take him out.



The movie is not very action based until Sun Yat-sen arrives. The movie up to that point is all character development and back story on why its important to protect Sun Yat-sen with their lives!

It was both intense and thought provoking. Because of Donnie's presence, you might think this is an action film. But its only a third of the film. You shouldn't miss this one.

Storm Rider: Clash of Evils - 風雲決

Storm Rider: Clash of Evils (風雲決) is a 2008 film out of Hong Kong. This film is a animated film. The two main voices are Richie Ren and Nicolas Tse.

The movie starts with Wind and Cloud on the top of a building planning how they will defeat their master and the one responsible for the death of their families. Cloud is going to engage the blood of the fire beast. With that power, Cloud could go crazy and unleash evil on the world. Cloud tells Wind that he should kill him if that became the case. During the battle with their master, Cloud is overtaken by evil after he kills his master. Wind gives chase to kill him. Instead, Wind is seen falling to his death.

Cloud temporarily has the evil suppressed. Saddened by Winds death, he drinks himself to sleep. Wind however survives the fall and is saved by a group of thieves. But when Wind wakes up, he doesn't remember his name or his past.

Eventually, Wind and Cloud do meet and they fight each other.

A sub story to his is Jue, who wants their evil blood to to resurrect his sword and to take revenge.

The Movie was pretty entertaining. I believe the animation was done in Hong Kong and its pretty decent.

Beast Stalker - 證人

Beast Stalker (證人) is a 2008 film out Hong Kong. It stars Nicholas Tse and Nick Cheung. The film was nominated for 5 awards at the 28th Hong Kong film Awards and walked away with 2.

The story revolves around the life of Nicholas Tse playing Tong Fei. Fei is the head of a narcotics group. The film starts with the group eating at a breakfast joint and than heads for a drug bust. During the bust, a few things go wrong and Fei vents on a few people. After the bust, Fei with Sun, played by Liu Kai Chi, find a getaway car. They spring into action and eventually capturing the guys in the getaway car. Fei stops them by firing a few rounds into the trunk and another hitting the driver. Little does Fei know, there's a little girl in the trunk and he inadvertently kills her. Deemed an accident, Fei transfer to another group and goes into a long guilt trip and befriending the little girls younger sister.

But things turn for the worst, the mother of the two sisters is the main lawyer seeing the case against the head of the criminals in the get away car. The criminals kidnap the younger sister and demand that the mother switch the blood samples. Fei is there as the kidnapper, played by Nick Cheung, appears. The chase is on.

The movie was a wild ride. Very intense and at the same time, very trilling. I was drawn in right away and didn't want to stop. Zhang Jingchu was amazingly beautiful as the protective mother and torn lawyer.

HK cinema at its peak in 2008. Don't miss this one.

The Promise - 無極

The Promise (無極) is a 2005 film out of China. It is directed by Chen Kaige and stars Jan Dong-gun, Hiroyuki Sanada, Cecilia Cheung, and Nicholas Tse.

This is a very complicated movie to summarize. Please head over to wikipedia for the condensed version (it's like 1,300 words as of today). No way I am writing something that crazy. I am lucky to get to 300 words with each post.

The movie was crazy. Insane actually. It was super hard to follow and the CG was distracting. Having Jan and Sanada speak mandarin was even more distracting.

It was a much hyped movie of 2005 and made it to the awards in some place in 2006. I am going to guess because of the hype and Chen's rep. Other than that, this movie is a mess.

I guess I am not a Chen fan anymore. I didn't like Forever Enthralled (梅蘭芳) at all.

Invisible Target - 男兒本色

Invisible Target (男兒本色) is a 2007 film out of Hong Kong. It stars Nicholas Tse, Jaycee Chan, Shawn Yue, and Jacky Wu (Wu Jing).

The movie is about 3 cops. All three cops have problems that they are trying to deal with. These three cops are explored a little more in detail at the beginning of the film. The three cops are played by Nicholas, Jaycee, and Shawn. Jacky Wu plays Tien, the leader of a mercenary group from China. They were part of a heist in the past and have come to Hong Kong to claim their half of the heist. They are ruthless and begin catching the attention of the cops. The three cops all have run ins with Tien's group and are all hurt badly.

Somehow they all get stuck in the police station and that's where the fun starts. Lots of people of dying and lots of fighting.

The movie features lots and lots of fighting. In some cases, the fighting is quite absurd. But its HK style and its quite entertaining.

2007 was an excellent year for HK cinema and this was one of those films.

The Storm Warriors - 風雲II - Upcoming

The Storm Warriors (風雲II/風雲2) is set for release in Hong Kong on December 17, 2009. I've been hearing about this movie since the summer of 2008. The film is produced and directed by the Pang Brothers. This is the sequel to the 1998 film, The Storm Riders. Aaron Kwok and Ekin Cheng reprise their roles as Cloud and Wind. Simon Yam, Charlene Choi, and Nicholas Tse round out the rest of the star studded cast.

The poster, teaser, scene and trailers are now available. The build up starts now. This could be a visual extravaganza or a total letdown. I hope its good. But I don't have high hopes for the story.

The Proud Twins - The Handsome Siblings - 小魚兒與花無缺

The Proud Twins - The Handsome Siblings - 小魚兒與花無缺 was a 2004 and 2005 wuxia series starring Nicholas Tse and Dickie Cheung, based off the Gu Long novel, The Legendary Twins (絕世雙嬌).

I originally wrote a brief review of this series in March 2007.

Here's my review from March 12, 2007:

One is called "The Proud Twins" starring two HK male leads, Dicky Cheung and Nicholas Tse. Its around 44 or 45 episodes (depends on which DVD set you're watching). I must say that the first 25 episode were fantastic. Simply amazing. I watched in anticipation for each story arc to unfold. But the series took a really dark tone after that point and I ended up fast forwarding through at least 80% of the rest of the series. I remember telling my wife that she had to watch it and I'd translate whatever she couldn't understand. But I couldn't recommend it after I watched it all. Only 60% of the series was any good. Do the producers and makers even know how good it was and how much it sucked after? In any case, it was GREAT for 25 episodes. I can tell you when to stop and not watch anymore. This story was based off a Gu Long novel.

That was both a glowing and loathsome review. It really was a amazing first half to the series. However, the second half turned really morbid and doesn't give you that nice fuzzy ending you would like.