Film: Assassin's Blade
Release date: 3rd May 2010
Release date: 3rd May 2010
Certificate: 15
Running time: 102 mins
Director: Jingle MaStarring: Charlene Choi, Chun Wu, Ge Hu
Genre: Martial Arts/Action
Studio: Metrodome
Format: DVDCountry: Hong Kong
As with all great love stories the premise is simple; will the lovers overcome the many perceived and actual barriers in order to consummate their love? Will theirs be a tragic tale of what might have been? Will you care that you have watched this story a thousand times before?
Yanzhi (Charlene Choi) is hidden in a martial arts school disguised as a male student where she, literally, meets the boy of her dreams, Liang (Chun Wu). They fall in love but their plans for happiness are scuppered when Yanzhi’s parents arrange a marriage with her friend Ma (Ge Hu), who has become a powerful local diplomat, as well as possessive to murderous degrees…
The first half of the film displays a lightness of touch and sure footedness that is sometimes lacking with Asian films in this genre. Where The Assassins Blade is successful is that the comedy moments are actualized by fun characters, and the youth and verve of the main protagonists lends itself well to these slighter moments. There are many examples of preposterous comedy in other martial arts movies, as otherwise violent or wise characters slip into ‘Clouseau-esque’ moments of madcap mayhem. Choi, one half of Cantonese pop group Twins, and Wu, starring in his first feature, play characters where the comedy is entirely believable, and a lot of credit must go to the script writer and director Jingle Ma (Tokyo raiders, Playboy Cops) for ensuring that these comedy moments never descend into farce.
Kudos also has to go to Jingle Ma for the look of the film, in which he has undertaken the role of cinematographer, as well as director. We sometimes take for granted great looking period genre films such as The Assassin’s Blade, which is entirely unfair. The film is a visual treat, and unlike Zhang Yimou’s films Crouching Tiger or Hero, where bold primary colours are used as characters in their own right, the broad pallet of colours used in The Assassin’s Blade act as beautiful canvases. An example of this can be witnessed during Yanzhi’s dream sequence, where primary colours are avoided, and fluidly beautiful turquoises are mixed with hues of green and blue to create stunningly ethereal vistas. The fight scene during the final third of the film, where Liang fights at night under a canopy of red lanterns is exquisite. Watch in awe as every colour apart from the red lanterns overhead appear to morph into different shades of blue.
The action sequences by Siu-Tung Ching (Hero, Curse Of The Golden Flower) are beautifully staged and choreographed. There is a stunning mixture of slow motion/wire techniques which are at once balletic and violent. Apart from being well staged, there are some wonderfully original perspectives on show here with fantastic low angled camera shots pulling vertically upwards as the actors perform leg sweeps, which really bring the viewer into the midst of the action. The editing is sharp and on the money but, thankfully, we are treated to plenty of mid shots leaving the whole fight visible, and avoiding jump cuts which heighten the kinetic effect but lose track of movement.
An added bonus is the music, which successfully soundtracks the entire movie; a joyous mixture of classical instruments with some contemporary noises subtly thrown in to up the pace and add to the tension in parts. What we should be looking at here is a quite brilliant, historical, martial arts/romance story. Unfortunately, we are not.
What we do have is a film entirely let down by the complete lack of an original script, which quite blatantly steals wholesale story ideas from Romeo & Juliet and House Of Flying Daggers. It really is a shame because the component parts are quite lovingly and skilfully put together. The acting is actually very good, particularly Choi and Wu, who are a winning couple. You would really route for Yanzhi and Liang to succeed if you didn’t know exactly what was going to happen at the end. It also has to be said that the main plot device which puts Yanzhi in contact with Liang is completely preposterous because Charlene Choi is blessed with one of the most feminine and beautiful faces to grace the screen in a very long time.
The Assassins Blade takes the main premise far too seriously, and there are plot holes so massive you could hide the Greek national debt inside them. A quite beautiful failure. SM
Yanzhi (Charlene Choi) is hidden in a martial arts school disguised as a male student where she, literally, meets the boy of her dreams, Liang (Chun Wu). They fall in love but their plans for happiness are scuppered when Yanzhi’s parents arrange a marriage with her friend Ma (Ge Hu), who has become a powerful local diplomat, as well as possessive to murderous degrees…
The first half of the film displays a lightness of touch and sure footedness that is sometimes lacking with Asian films in this genre. Where The Assassins Blade is successful is that the comedy moments are actualized by fun characters, and the youth and verve of the main protagonists lends itself well to these slighter moments. There are many examples of preposterous comedy in other martial arts movies, as otherwise violent or wise characters slip into ‘Clouseau-esque’ moments of madcap mayhem. Choi, one half of Cantonese pop group Twins, and Wu, starring in his first feature, play characters where the comedy is entirely believable, and a lot of credit must go to the script writer and director Jingle Ma (Tokyo raiders, Playboy Cops) for ensuring that these comedy moments never descend into farce.
Kudos also has to go to Jingle Ma for the look of the film, in which he has undertaken the role of cinematographer, as well as director. We sometimes take for granted great looking period genre films such as The Assassin’s Blade, which is entirely unfair. The film is a visual treat, and unlike Zhang Yimou’s films Crouching Tiger or Hero, where bold primary colours are used as characters in their own right, the broad pallet of colours used in The Assassin’s Blade act as beautiful canvases. An example of this can be witnessed during Yanzhi’s dream sequence, where primary colours are avoided, and fluidly beautiful turquoises are mixed with hues of green and blue to create stunningly ethereal vistas. The fight scene during the final third of the film, where Liang fights at night under a canopy of red lanterns is exquisite. Watch in awe as every colour apart from the red lanterns overhead appear to morph into different shades of blue.
The action sequences by Siu-Tung Ching (Hero, Curse Of The Golden Flower) are beautifully staged and choreographed. There is a stunning mixture of slow motion/wire techniques which are at once balletic and violent. Apart from being well staged, there are some wonderfully original perspectives on show here with fantastic low angled camera shots pulling vertically upwards as the actors perform leg sweeps, which really bring the viewer into the midst of the action. The editing is sharp and on the money but, thankfully, we are treated to plenty of mid shots leaving the whole fight visible, and avoiding jump cuts which heighten the kinetic effect but lose track of movement.
An added bonus is the music, which successfully soundtracks the entire movie; a joyous mixture of classical instruments with some contemporary noises subtly thrown in to up the pace and add to the tension in parts. What we should be looking at here is a quite brilliant, historical, martial arts/romance story. Unfortunately, we are not.
What we do have is a film entirely let down by the complete lack of an original script, which quite blatantly steals wholesale story ideas from Romeo & Juliet and House Of Flying Daggers. It really is a shame because the component parts are quite lovingly and skilfully put together. The acting is actually very good, particularly Choi and Wu, who are a winning couple. You would really route for Yanzhi and Liang to succeed if you didn’t know exactly what was going to happen at the end. It also has to be said that the main plot device which puts Yanzhi in contact with Liang is completely preposterous because Charlene Choi is blessed with one of the most feminine and beautiful faces to grace the screen in a very long time.
The Assassins Blade takes the main premise far too seriously, and there are plot holes so massive you could hide the Greek national debt inside them. A quite beautiful failure. SM
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