taehyungsfatnose
Hero director back with new spectacular action.
The Asian martial arts film has become in the 21st century what spaghetti westerns were in the late 60s. Many films take more and more from the mystical East in terms of fighting and spirituality. The pioneer for this was of course Ang Lee's Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon which became the first non-English language film to gross over 100 million dollars in the US. There was also an Oscar for best foreign film. The legend Zhang Yimou was not slow to follow up with the visually stunning Hero. Common to these films was also a certain Zhang Ziyi, an adorable young lady who, if Yimou can be likened to Sergio Leone, can be likened to a feminine Clint Eastwood.
Now Ziyi and Yimou collaborate again in the new Flying Daggers and the result is just as good as you think. There are grand vistas, gravity-free fight scenes and a dance scene that defies description. In the beginning, we meet the police officers Jin (Takeshi Kaneshiro) and Leo (Andy Lau), who have been given a mission to find the leader of the rival group Flying Daggers. They hear that a new suspicious girl (Ziyi) has started at the local joy house and head there to investigate. Soon the intrigues are underway and, in order not to reveal the most interesting twists, it can be said that a triangle drama, which could be signed by Shakespeare, arises. It's lies, fake roles and betrayal in a nice mix, even if the plot sometimes thinks it's smarter than it actually is.
The most serious problem with the film is really a lack of variety. Crouching Tiger... stood out for its incredibly beautiful love story and sweaty action scenes, while Hero was perhaps the most beautiful thing ever made on film. Flying Daggers certainly does not lack talent, all the actors excel and Yimou is technically a genius. But the story sometimes feels alarmingly empty and the fight scenes strangely familiar. That's why I like to draw the parallel to western films. They were basically all the same, you loved each other and everyone loved you. Asia freaks won't be disappointed, I certainly wasn't, but at the same time it's good to raise a warning sign of a creative impasse. It would be a shame if such a wonderful genre was neglected.
FYI: The film's original title Shi mian mai fu roughly translates to Ambush from ten directions.
Now Ziyi and Yimou collaborate again in the new Flying Daggers and the result is just as good as you think. There are grand vistas, gravity-free fight scenes and a dance scene that defies description. In the beginning, we meet the police officers Jin (Takeshi Kaneshiro) and Leo (Andy Lau), who have been given a mission to find the leader of the rival group Flying Daggers. They hear that a new suspicious girl (Ziyi) has started at the local joy house and head there to investigate. Soon the intrigues are underway and, in order not to reveal the most interesting twists, it can be said that a triangle drama, which could be signed by Shakespeare, arises. It's lies, fake roles and betrayal in a nice mix, even if the plot sometimes thinks it's smarter than it actually is.
The most serious problem with the film is really a lack of variety. Crouching Tiger... stood out for its incredibly beautiful love story and sweaty action scenes, while Hero was perhaps the most beautiful thing ever made on film. Flying Daggers certainly does not lack talent, all the actors excel and Yimou is technically a genius. But the story sometimes feels alarmingly empty and the fight scenes strangely familiar. That's why I like to draw the parallel to western films. They were basically all the same, you loved each other and everyone loved you. Asia freaks won't be disappointed, I certainly wasn't, but at the same time it's good to raise a warning sign of a creative impasse. It would be a shame if such a wonderful genre was neglected.
FYI: The film's original title Shi mian mai fu roughly translates to Ambush from ten directions.
Was this review helpful to you?
