风云2 Movie Review

Had to write something because this movie sucked so bad. In short the Pang brothers managed to mutilate 风云 with their horrible cinematography. Non comic books fans will probably leave the cinema with question marks floating above their heads as there was a substantial portion of the storyline that was unaccounted for. The first was the poisoning of the pugilists. Although there was a chunk of introductory text, it failed to portray the rich story that explains the grudge between 无名 & 绝无神 and also the intricate plotting by 绝无神 which led to the poisoning of the pugilists. The movie also failed to explain what the spinal cord signifies and why super powered kungfu masters were fighting over that piece of ancient vertebrate.

The movie had a good portion of it being presented a la 300(The spartan movie which was also comic derived) style. Felt like an insult to Chinese comics. Why do we need to flatter Western comics by pirating the 300 cinematography? 风云 is such a classic Chinese comic with its own rich storylines and mythos. I blame the directors for the failure. The actors were doing fine except for Charlene Choi, and its probably not her fault because it was more of a casting issue. Charlene Choi's cheerful face is a foil for the comic's 第二梦 who is more of a reserved and melancholic personality. Kenny Ho was great as 无名 he has a more intense and suave look than Sun Xing who portrays 无名 in the TV series. The veteran villain Simon Yam was 杀很大 and was particularly impressive with that line "从此武林，我就是神话!".

The other saving grace was probably the 万剑归宗 Vs 不灭金身 scene. It was quite a CGI Spectacle that was true to the comics.万剑归宗 in 风云 comics is the pinnacle of swordsmanship.Only a handful of masters grasped this technique.无名 was the master in that era who mastered the skill. When 万剑归宗 is unleashed thousands of surrounding swords are levitated telekinetically and hurled towards the opponent in a relentless maelstrom of fury. It's more of a 终极招数 aka final technique and as per described one can imagine it is only used against an extremely formidable common enemy who has slain numerous pugilists, otherwise there wouldn't be this many swords lying around would it?

Take a look

http://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XMTE3MjUxNTg0.html

Please stick to the horror genre, Pang brothers. I give this movie -6/10. Fail! Movie goers save that money for a better show. If you want a solid 风云 movie stick to the original or watch 风云决(The animated version).