Maybe some help for those confused by this movie

I had this posted on HKFlix and they thought it was a lot of help, so I thought maybe someone here might like it as well.

I usually do not write reviews but this movie, or rather reading other's reviews of this movie, have prompted me to add a few pennies. I actually like this movie, and for some of the reasons others seem not to. I will forgo retelling the general plot of the film as this has been done over and over and is easy to access, but what I really want to share is my thoughts on it in reference to Chinese Mythology.

I must admit that it seems that the director and writers figure either their audience won't care about the background info behind the rules and equipment of ghosthunting in the middle kingdom, or they will be familiar with the genre or popular myth enough to already know it. The staff review mentions that the equipment isn't explained at all, this isn't completely true, there is a scene where Tide explains what the different gear is. It is a rough explanation, yes, but no worse than those seen in MIB, Ghostbusters or a half dozen other movies in both the east and the west. Most people who know enough about chinese mythology will understand why the bullets have to be covered in blood (so that the bullets are energized by chi (or Qi)) and why some ghosts are more powerful than others, depending on how strong their P'u is (for you western boys that's the darker side of the soul in chinese mythology).

Knowing this doesn't really help the movie and takes up more time that could be focused on the relationships and action of the movie so I do not feel slighted in them not spending half an hour explaining the very complex and serious matter of chinese spiritology.

The relationships I found to be helpful (and not confusing as so many relationships are in this genre), more in demonstrating the two main character's personalities than anything else. You have Fung who falls in love at first sight just because the girl in teh coma looks like a picture on a driver's license he found in high school (which tells me he's a little immature, a little untried, and believes in fairy tale situations). Then you have Tide who has loved this girl for months or even years and hasn't been able to tell her (you see just how lovesick he is when he explains to the her exactly how much he knows about her).

The fact that he has the birthmark which caused pain and loss in his life is another example of how the writers may assume the audience either knows more than they do or doesn't care. Birthmarks play a very important part in the movie, from Tide's to the palm of Feng which helps Chan identify him and convince him of his fate. It isn't so much mystical mystery as a nod to something many take for granted (much like the ritualistic burning of paper items to help their dead live better and why the paper merchants can charge so much for their wares).

The relationship between Chan and Tide has been questioned by many and commented on as a plot hole. They ask why can Tide have a relationship with Chan when all his friends and loved ones die. This can be answered in a number of ways, any of which could be right or wrong and is up to the audience to decide. The easiest answer is simply that Tide *doesn't* like chan. They are aquaintances and to a certain degree teacher and student, but that does not nec tie them together as 'friends', also remember here that this is a translation problem as well, friends is a bit simplistic a word to use for either case. Would you call your teacher in college who you had a few drinks with your friend? Maybe, but do you think that's enough for them to be marked by fate in Tide's case? prolly not or else soemone he smiled at and spoke nicely to for a couple weeks might be in danger. He obviously has to have some real emotional attachment to someone before they are at danger (remember Chan telling him flirting is ok?) and I never saw that attachment to Chan. In fact, he seemed almost to dislike Chan but made do because he was one of a very few who understood him and could help him, and was his superior in 2002 to boot you find out later.

I thought the movie was very good, even with the problems it had either assuming the audience knew too much or just didn't care. I hope this review has shed a little light on one of the major holes and question areas of this movie.

And for the record, yes, I even found I liked the end battle. The flashbacks let me decide over a little time exactly what was going to happen, it showed the love that had developed between the two partners (I didn't get anything homosexual out of it like others seem to have) and how Tide was going to give Wind the chance to 'beat him up' as he had asked (a nod both to Wind and to Sam). I think it made the fight much more meaningful than it would have been with just a few minutes of punches. Others are right that you don't care by that time who dies or who doesn't because the movie has done a fairly decent job of showing the middle kingdom's view of death, it's not as good as life, but not all that bad either. The movie needed to have us invest something in the fight for a different reason and that reason becomes the interaction between the partners, the helplessness of Tide's fate as he sees it, and the devotion of the nurse.

Anyway, I recommend this movie to anyone, but especially to fans of HKSupernatural films and those with degrees in Asian Mythology, those few of us out there.

Cheers
Kal