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Reviews
Musa (2001)
Fantastic Period Piece
After the return of Hong Kong to China in '97, a big void was created in Hong Kong cinema. Actors, directors and other talent fled to Hollywood. In that time, Korea (as well as the number of quality films coming out of Japan)has emerged to fill in the empty space. "Musa" is the result of "the new guys on the block." This Korean/Chinese period piece is a high water mark for Korean cinema. It contains adventure, action and good melodrama. It also mixes Korean and Hong Kong stars for credibility. Overall it succeeds. Taking elements from Kurosawa's "Hidden Fortress" and Gibson's "Braveheart," "Musa" entwines western and eastern sensibilities to tell an entertaining story with high production values. Although it doesn't have the high flying martial arts of HK films, it does have terrific battle scenes that rival a Hollywood epic. This film should be in the group of Korean films, along with "Shiri," to further expand and introduce Korean films to the rest of the world. And, if Hong Kong doesn't watch out, Korea might just take over as the dominant filmmakers of Asia.
Invincible (2001)
Stinker
"Invincible" is an amazingly bad made-for-television movie, filled with poor acting and amateurish direction. You'd think that the likes of Jet Li and Mel Gibson would be enough to propel this turgid mess into something better, but their producing credits are worth nothing more than screen time. The story is something someone picked right out of the trash. If this is a pilot for a tv series, then I wish the producers a lot a luck, 'cause this is a stinker. I can only add that the talent of Tony Ching(Ching Siu-Tung)was wasted.
Boh lei chun (1999)
Jackie in Love
I recently watched "Gorgeous" again in an American release and dubbed version. While I prefer the Hong Kong version, I found that "Gorgeous" doesn't have a mean bone in its body. It is cute and sweet throughout. If you can get through that then this movie will entertain you. If you're looking for a fistful of action, you will be disappointed.
First we meet Hsu Chi, who plays the innocent country girl from Taiwan who looks toward the big city for romance via a message in a bottle (The Chinese name of the film "Glass Bottle" is more appropriate, so why they renamed it for the foreign release is a puzzlement.). Hsu rushes to Hong Kong in search of love and finds Tony Leung, a gay make-up artist. She sees Chan in one of his flourishes, escaping Emil Chow's men on a yacht and quickly falls in love with this dashing, adventurous character. Hsu and Jackie meet up when Hsu rescues Jackie from this predicament. Richie Ren appears as the comic relief, playing Hsu's suitor from Taiwan.
The movie focuses on the relationship between Bu and C.N. (Hsu and Jackie) and the events they go through while developing their love. There are a couple of fighting/sparring scenes where Jackie takes on Bradley James Allan, one of Jackie's own stunt monkeys. These two fights are well-choreographed and fill in for those who are jones'n for a Jackie fight scene.
The direction by Vincent Kok is well handled. Jackie made the right choice in getting a comedy director to take the reigns. The art and set design were also well done.
Although I, too, love Jackie's action flicks, this movie is a departure into the romantic realm. It is a well-made film that is engaging and sugar-sweet. The soundtrack is also quite cloying. And, unlike many of the recent Jet Li movies that have been dubbed for American audiences, "Gorgeous" keeps its soundtrack and theme song intact, which made the dubbed version more tolerable. Jackie seems to be making the transition to more adult-based films that divert, slightly, from his typical kung-fu knockabouts. This film was a welcome change of pace.