MovieChat Forums > Wu ji (2006) Discussion > I think this is why people think it suck...

I think this is why people think it sucked

posted 18 years ago by mister_four
11 replies | jump to latest

I saw it without knowing anything about it. Just checking out the trailer, I can see why people are shocked by the bad ratings. It does look like a great wuxia epic with all the drama and eye candy you could want.

When I go to watch a kung fu film, that's all I really care about. Other than the choreography and cinematography, everything comes second.

But the movie fails in both points. People always complain about special effects looking live a video game...but for here, it's true. They LITERALLY look like they're from a video game. The actors are badly blue screened, and the effects are actually one step lower than Kung Fu Hustle which used *beep* effects well for comedic effect. Since this is a drama, it adds an impenatrable layer of cheese on top of everything.

There's one scene where a man is running from a heard of bulls. Not only to the bulls look like they were made for a playstation game 10 years ago, his legs spin in circles like a loony tunes cartoon. THis is supposed to be a big dramitic thrust early in the movie, but I was laughing out loud because it looked so ridiculous.

The choreography isn't every good either. Instead of using computers to enchance moves, it looks like a photo of the person is spun around, again giving it that loony tunes effect.

I love CG; King Kong, Revenge of the Sith, whatever people say about their quality as films, I think the special effects, while clearly computer generated, have a beauty and weight to them. But in the Promise they look awful. Not even mediocre, but really like it was filmed as a student project.

So, the trailer is misleading in that respect because they somehow rearragend the footage so it looked quite beutiful. But there's nothing close to Hero or Flying Daggers in terms of CG enhanced beauty.

That being said, the movie itself isn't too bad. I do appreciate the ambitions of the special effects, you can tell the director was trying to create this spectacular world. And while the story is cliched, the universal ideals of love and loss come through well within the epic framwork, and the soundtrack really adds to the drama.

So, the movie fails as a spectacle, and considering how important that is for these kinds of films, I can understand why people are so mad about it.

[–] lartrak 18 years ago

The only HK/Chinese films I have seen that really benefitted from obvious CG (I'm talking CG people, monsters, etc, not relatively minor assists or composits, like in Hero and House of Flying Daggers) were Shaolin Soccer and Kung Fu Hustle. Just about every other time I have seen it used they were shoddily done and added nothing. I like it much better when lots of clever editing, camera work, and sound effects create convincing effects work.

[–] ffordegroupie 18 years ago

I agree. The legs spinning thing also was in Kung Fu Hustle.... but that wasn't dramatic, it was MEANT to remind you of Looney Tunes and make you laugh out loud.

In fact, that is what those two movies (SS and KFH) have in common: The filmmakers know the CGI doesn't look even remotely real, and they don't care, because that is part of the comic appeal.

[–] Marvin_Tsai 18 years ago

>>When I go to watch a kung fu film, that's all I really care about. Other than the choreography and cinematography, everything comes second.

I think you are totally wrong, if your post is based on this viewpoint. It's not a kung fu film, it's more about war between men, Chinese mythology, and romance.

[–] LegendaryStranger 18 years ago

Actually, according to the director it's a "mythical martial arts film".

[–] mcguirk193 18 years ago

Whether it's a kung-fu film or a film about "war between men, Chinese mythology, and romance" doesn't change the fact that the bad CG stuff was just plain distracting - and the plot was very convoluted. Some people didn't mind these things and were still able to relate to the director's vision. A lot of others, like me, just couldn't get into it. But the film did have a lot of promise (no pun intended) which is probably why some people are so disappointed with it.

[–] frodo_unplugged 18 years ago

Don't exaggerate. Not all the CGI in "The Promise" was bad, mostly at the beginning. Look at Jackson's "King Kong", the dinosaur stampede was equally fake looking and unbelievable, and he had a budget of well over $200 million. One of the problems with "The Promise" is that it was cut down for a US release from 130 to about 100 minutes. I saw the cut version, and it felt very much like a prolonged trailer instead of a movie. It seems they cut out important story telling parts and just kept the action bits intact. One action scene after another will look ridiculous and become tiring for the viewer, don't blame the director, blame the studio executives. I for one will reserve final judgment until I've seen the director's cut.

[–] cb_advanced 18 years ago

"Look at Jackson's "King Kong", the dinosaur stampede"

no, the dinos looked awesome and realistic like the elefants in ROTK
they ran out of time near the end for the compositing from what I read

[–] 18 years ago

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[–] cb_advanced 18 years ago

"It's not a kung fu film, it's more about war between men, Chinese mythology, and romance."

even though the myths in this "movie" are all made up by the director...

[–] Honest_Asian_Guy 18 years ago

This movie sucked ass not only because of the terrible SFX but because of the crummy acting. There are better films out there. Please stay away.

"Get those f uckers Billy, get 'em."

[–] amy179 18 years ago

totally. the movie is horrific. and the bull scene really is ridiculous. it's very cartoon-ish. and the bad guy's 'golden fist' is ridiculous. I don't know why but that was kinda silly!!!