The Four (2012)

Definitely a great action packed movie! The story line is pretty easy to follow in my opinion and there is comedy relief from time to time. Wish the director was more elaborate on some parts. There are moments where the movie seems rushed because the scenes/settings/plot line jumps pretty quickly. It's an hour and 58 minute movie with a really complicated story line so I'll let the director go for rushing most parts.
The director chose a great group of actors because the acting is spectacular. Watched this because of Crystal Liu (Liu Yi Fei) and Deng Chao. I felt like I was watching another Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame kind of movie, but it wasn't. There were all these special effects and it really made me go wow. It's not the kind of cg effects that seems over-exaggerated, don't misunderstand. Whenever they were used, it wasn't excessive. Wu Qing's(Crystal)character is entirely based off of telekinesis and there were too few scenes in this movie reflecting that, which I found regrettable! It was really cool seeing Crystal acting out this role, because I didn't like her in Chinese Paladin that much. She definitely showed superb acting skills. Ronald Cheng as Zhui Ming provided comedy relief since he's the easy going guy. Always loved him in HK movies and dramas. There wasn't much emphasis on Tie Shou, which was a pity since he seemed like a pretty cool character to act out. Then there's Deng Chao as Leng Xue which I found slightly disappointing because I didn't really see much acting coming from him. There were scenes with him but not enough character development. This whole movie, I kind of focused more on Wu Qing.
Anyways, I would definitely recommend this movie. Action packed, slight romance, and comedy, what else can I ask for? It can go from an all serious moment to an entirely funny scene. The cinematography and music really added an extra bonus to the entire thing. This one hour and 58 minute movie is definitely worth the time, would re-watch soon. Currently expecting the sequel with the same cast, The Four 2.

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I actually liked this movie. The story plot was pretty clear to me probably because I grew up watching Wuxia dramas when I was a kid. Some people actually prefer Wuxia dramas with no CGI but in my opinion, CGI enhances the Wuxia moves as long as it is not overused. This movie is a perfect example of what you want to watch in a Wuxia film. There is one part that confuses me, which is the love interest. Wikipedia explains that there is a love triangle in the movie but it is unclear what couple has ended up together in the end. Depending on what site you are watching from, the translation may be vary so I suggest you watch from the same site when watching the 2nd movie.

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Watching this mess of a film was a depressingly big waste of time. Director Gordon Chan delivers a ham-fisted direction that leaves the viewer clueless as to what type of movie they are watching, resulting in parts that feel woefully out of place. At least the action scenes are good. Visually it is stunning and the acting and action are decent but the delivery was poor.

It’s as if he tried to jam every popular genre and idea into this film without a comprehensive road map to make it work. This film was poorly executed but there is enough in it that this COULD have been a truly awesome film if the director spent more time thinking and planning and less time grandstanding.

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