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Showing posts with label shu qi. Show all posts
Showing posts with label shu qi. Show all posts

Friday, May 24, 2019

Mojin: The Lost Legend A.K.A. 鬼吹燈之尋龍訣 (2015)

A Chinese adventure directed by Wuershan, starring Shu Qi.
A trio of retired treasure hunters are living in New York City. 20 years ago, the 2 men narrowly escaped from a tomb, but lost the woman they both desired. Now one of them has returned to the area to search for the Equinox Flower. The other man follows and is accompanied by their female co-worker. The first man who returned is employed by a gang of some type and all of them enter a tomb which is rife with traps.
If you can read subtitles fast enough, this is really cool. It looked like a modern wuxia film, but there was no flying or swordplay. The sets and special effects are the main attraction here. The tomb has bridges that burn with green fire, zombies, collapsing floors and mummies which turn into poisonous dust. It doesn't matter that I could tell when the characters were in front of a green screen. The main characters were moderately developed and their back-story was revealed as the plot progressed. Somehow I was reminded of the Pirates of the Caribbean series. I rate this good and would recommend it for those who like big movies with good special effects.

Monday, April 4, 2016

Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons (2013)

A Chinese kung fu fantasy directed by Stephen Chow, starring Shu Qi.
A demon hunter tries to save a village from a demon fish, but is upstaged by a female demon hunter. They meet many more times and face other demons while she tries to win his heart. Eventually, he is sent on a quest to find the monkey king in order to help defeat a boar demon.
YES! This was amazing! Stephen Chow's absurd humor in a traditional Chinese kung fu setting with over-the-top video effects? WONDERFUL! The plot seemed to lack direction, but the main characters were memorable. I really liked the ring fight in the restaurant, the meeting of masters in the forest and the final climax battle. The subtitles on the version that I watched were very small and very transparent (difficult to see) and the video was terribly pixelated. Overall, I'm glad I sat through the meandering plot, tolerated the poor quality video and read the tiny subtitles to see it. I rate this best. WATCH IT!!!!!!