Wednesday, August 02, 2006

Dragon Tiger Gate - New age kungfu

Me and Gurl went to catch Pirates 2 last weekend, but ended up watching Dragon Tiger Gate (DTG) instead.

The reason? Somehow Malaysian women just cannot get enough of the smirking Johnny Depp in full makeup, and Malaysian men are too attracted to Keira Knightley’s gorgeous looks to notice her flat chest. What about Orlando Bloom you say? Who needs Orlando Bloom?

To cut it short, the cineplex was full of pirate-wannabes.

Back to DTG, it’s supposed to be an adaptation of a comic series which was way popular in Hong Kong some time ago. I say this because firstly, I didn’t grow up in the 70s, and secondly I don’t read HK comics. Thirdly, I’d rather be shot than pay to watch a HK flick. Alas, miscommunication does happen, and we found ourselves holding the passes to DTG after some blurry moments at the ticket counter.

The story basically goes like this: Brothers go their own ways, one ends up in the dumps, one stays at the kungfu house, both learn kick ass kungfu…Brothers reunite, fight against the scum of the earth, win and rejoice. Throw in a couple of girls and a sidekick and you get the perfect kungfu movie…not.

The main gripe that I have about this movie is the degree of reality the story is set in. Okay so this is supposed to be an entirely fictional, fantasy-based movie, but doesn’t it make you wonder how GUNS never show up in a world where youngster use the latest state-of-the-art cellphones? How the characters' hair can look so cool-til-my-hair's-covering-my-eyes-and-I-can't-see-anything?

Right, I forgot, it’s a martial arts flick. Forgive me if I’m stereotypical, but aren’t these kungfu sifu’s supposed to be...well, a bit more traditional?

So the storyline was like…there was no storyline at all.

Shortcomings apart, the action was good though. Good, not great. Again, it's due to the lack of realistic moves that the human body can perform. Entire movie was full of it though, from the start right up to the final fight scene. And the sound effects! Now that's the only plus point that salvaged this otherwise incoherant movie.

All in all, I still prefer Donnie Yen's previous movie, SPL, though I only watched it on DVD. Well, another lesson learned - NEVER watch HK flicks at the cinemas. Even if there's nothing else to watch.

Technorati tags: dragon tiger gate, donnie yen, kungfu, hk movie

thought completed at 7:02 PM | 3 comments

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