User comments
Reading the comments by "kidwltm from Butler, PA"...
"In the tradition of countries getting pigeonheld for certain style of film (ex: American and it's Hollywood action films), Japan and it's surrounding nations have became too well known for bad wuxia fiction (and the occasional John Woo knock off, though not as common as they used to be). Wuxia fiction is a style of story telling rooted in the wealth of Asian Mythology, generally more concerned with fantastical elements and not emotional (Like say Greek Myth). This is not an ailment to film's when shown in their homeland, where the audience is cultured to know certain things about their mythology. Problem is, if you are a foreign viewer, there are quite a few things that seem muddled and unexplained. It is up to the writers to create the story in an accessible manner to all audiences. Some films have done so, and others like this one have not. It does not help when you are already trying to follow a story containing a bevy of underdeveloped characters and subplots. On to that issue; The film, like most wuxia, is too concerned with grandiose things to focus on it's characters. Not to say no attention is payed, but it is not in a beneficiary amount. It sets up tenuous relationships that evoke no emotional response from the viewer and thus nullifies any moving moments between the characters. Too many scenes loses any chance of impact because of this and in turn become boring and annoying to watch. Along with a jumbled story and poor characters, the film lacks in the technical aspect as well. Costumes are nothing we have not seen in other film's from the culture, and the make up and special effects are so horrible in quality it is almost regressive to the film industry. As with most Asian films, you have to expect the acting to be over the top. It's the lingual patterns and dialect that make it this way, but it no less enjoyable watching people scream and shout during moments that should be emotionally overwhelming. There are no redeeming elements in this movie. It is too indulgent in it's own culture to be enthralling without a doctorate in Mythology (and even then the story is still too cartoonish to be enjoyable), the action is a mix of trashy f/x and sloppy swordplay, and the acting only elevates it to new melodramatic heights. There are a few shots that are quite gorgeous, but these are but a few, and the rest are just as bland as the rest of the film. Unless you are a die hard Asian cinema freak, or you get off watching cheap and unstructured fantasy, avoid this abomination at all costs.
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...annoyed me a little because he seems to be not only a bit clueless about "Asian" films and culture but he also put movies from East Asian countries, "Japan and its surrounding countries" as he puts it, into the blending machine and jumbled them up into one.
Wuxia is Chinese. There is no Japanese or Korean wuxia. This film is not wuxia, it's not about martial arts. John Woo is Chinese and Hollywood are the ones prominently knocking him off.
"It sets up tenuous relationships that evoke no emotional response from the viewer and thus nullifies any moving moments between the characters". Perhaps from your lack of understanding of the cultures involved result in you not feeling any emotion for the characters.
And I doubt the director thought, "Hey, let me think how I'm going to make this movie about the Japanese Omyouji appeal some Ameri... ahem.. foreigners who live on the other side of the planet who never even bother to try and understand something different from anything in their own backyards", when he was making this movie.