Dragon Tiger Gate (1st Movie Review)

Movie Review:

First of all, don’t be put off by the cheesy monikers such as “Tiger Wong” and “Dragon Wong” or the incomprehensive slick martial-arts moves. Welcome to the world of “Dragon Tiger Gate”, the fascinating world whereby highly skilled pugilists be they evil or good fight it out! Adapted from the legendary Tony Wong’s classic, must-read HK manga of all times, “Dragon Tiger Gate” popularity is comparable to Marvel’s X-men or Spider-man in the Chinese comics arena.

The story plotting sounds as if they are derived and woven from all those past familiar Ti Lung and David Chiang’s Shaw martial arts movies from the 70’s. Three upright young men (“Dragon”, “Tiger” and “Turbo”) after going through life turmoil decide to band together to rid the country number one’s evildoer, Shibumi. Yah, you must have either heard or seen it somewhere. However, this is one forgivable area, consider the original book formats started their origins back in the early days where the vintage Shaw Production Company is churning out martial-arts genres by the dozens.

Assuming the lead roles is Donnie Yen (who also served as action choreographer and producer), Nicholas Tse and Shawn Yue. Accordingly, Tse and Yue have to undergo months of martial arts training to fully pull off the believable stunts onscreen. Both young actors put in a fair performance as “Tiger Wong” and “Turbo Shek” respectively maybe except their mousy hairdo if you want to be picky but Yen’s charismatic and immerse veteran action moves overshadowed all, the moment he displayed that all so-cool kungfu stance.

In addition, the performance from the rest of the supporting cast including Dong Jie and Li Xiao-ran (both relatively newcomers from China) and veteran Yuen Wah is commendable, it’s the ultimate villain, Shibumi that is a letdown. Apparently, little is known about this man-behind-the-mask’s motives, background, thus Shibumi ended up as a two-dimensional character. Or better put, just a punch bag for ‘Dragon Wong’ in the finale. Amazingly, believe it or not Louis Koo is credited as Shibumi under guest appearances. And just like Stan Lee usual appearances in Marvel’s productions, Tony Wong the original scribe of the comics appear as Master Qi.

The costume and sets design is a nod to the comics. Sets such as the ‘Tiger Dragon Gate’, 'Japanese restaurant’ and ‘Inn’ looks as though they are practically lifted out from the pages from the manga. The inclusion of hand-drawn comics-like images serving as backgrounds has a nice, nostalgia touch.

Or perhaps it’s the ultimately fast, harrowing action sequences that best captured the comic spirit. The immensely gravity-defying kicks and spinning moves is a treat to the kungfu hungry audience. The outrageous kungfu moves on paper simply comes to live under Yen’s choreography. Get your eye drop ready because the moment you blink an eye, you might miss a deadly fast move by the trio!

Directed by Wilson Yip, the man behind last year’s hard-hitting “SPL”, “Dragon Tiger Gate” is part fantasy, part action and adapted from a well-known comic and most of all, a fitting showcase of what the flagging HK film industry is capable of pulling off.

Movie Rating: ***1/2 out of ****



(The West has X-men and Spider-man. The East has Dragon Tiger Gate. It’s time to release the oriental jewel once again!)

Review by Linus Tee

(Found On WWW.MONKEYPEACHES.COM)