|
don’t give out 1-star ratings often (and in fact, I can
count all the movies I have given 1-star ratings to on one hand), because I
usually reserve them for special occasions. Andrew Lau’s The Duel is
the kind of movie that leaves you with your jaw on the floor – for the simple
reason that you can’t understand how it could have been as bad as it was. The
film, a period martial arts movie, is a generic repetition of 100s of other
sword-fighting movies made by Hong Kong in the last decade or so. Besides that, The
Duel is another in a long line of Hong Kong films attempting to mix Western
cgi technology with Eastern swordplay. The result is sometimes watchable (The
Storm Riders), sometimes overwhelming (Avenging
Fist), and sometimes unfathomably uninspired. The Duel fits into that
last category.
The Duel stars Hong Kong mainstays Ekin Cheng and
Andy Lau (no relation to the director) as Simon the Snow Blower and Cool-Son
Yeh, respectively, two master swordsmen who become the subject of a duel when
Yeh decides it’s time he challenged the hermit-like Simon to a battle. Caught
up in the upcoming duel is Dragon 9 (Nick Cheung), Simon’s best friend, and
Princess Phoenix (Vicki Zhao), the Emperor’s spoiled little sister who has
developed a girly crush on the much-older Yeh. As the day for the duel draws
closer, Dragon 9, the Emperor’s ace Imperial Agent, begins to unravel a
conspiracy that may or may not involve Simon, and is somehow related to the duel
as well as the Emperor. And oh yes, chatty-Kathy Phoenix refuses to leave the
poor Dragon 9 alone!
As a reviewer I am obligated to list why The Duel
was a miserable moviegoing experience, but as a human being I am loathe to
relive this picture. The director is Andrew Lau (Dance
of a Dream), a man who is quickly developing a reputation for making
pictures with assembly line-like quality. Writer Wong Jing (High
Risk) is most notable for being a writer whose movies I have sworn to stay
away from from now on, on the simple premise that I find his writing style to be
clumsy, without skill, and childish and without substance. With these two
filmmakers involved, plus the inclusion of the prolific Ekin Cheng, is it any
wonder The Duel is a miserable piece of drivel without any semblance of
entertainment value?
Acting is poor across the board, and even Wong Jing’s
(highly questionable) trademark slapstick humor comes across as a loud thud.
Actress Vicki Zhao whines and annoys her way through the movie, somehow
mistaking a squeaky, babyish voice for acting. The beautiful Kristy Yang is
poorly used, turning from a female warrior early in the film to a whimpering and
doe-eyed maiden for the rest of the movie. Ekin Cheng, as usual, has as much
charisma as those strands of hair that keeps falling over his face. The usually
reliable and excitable Andy Lau must have been on Prozac, because his oddly
restrained performance brings absolutely nothing to the movie. Nick Cheung’s
Dragon 9 seems miscast, but does manage to show the most acting ability of the
group.
Besides Cheng’s dead-man-walking acting style and writer
Jing’s insipid dialogue and plotting, the movie relies heavily on special
effects for its fights, leaving one to wonder – once again – if any of this
people even bothered to learn actual martial arts. Hong Kong cinema has survived
a lot of garbage in its long history. There were the chop-socky films made
famous by Bruce Lee in the early ‘70s, the cheap and quickie period martial
arts films of the late ‘70s, and the gangster films of the ‘80s. Now, in the
late ‘90s and early millennium, Hong Kong cinema has become fascinated (or is
the appropriate word “obsessed?”) with using as much computer-aided effects
as possible in their movies.
Movies like Avenging
Fist and A Man
Called Hero have nurtured the idea that there seems to no longer be any
rhyme or reason for the inclusion of cgi in Hong Kong films other than to say,
“Look, it’s cgi!” Even movies like 2002,
although funny and tongue-in-cheek, rely too heavily on the same special
effects. One has to wonder how long Hong Kong cinema can survive this total lack
of substance and over-reliance on drowning the audience in cgi. Whatever
happened to just making a film that is smart, funny, or thrilling?
From what I can tell, Hong Kong cinema can’t possibly get
any worst than movies like The Duel and Avenging
Fist. Then again, I’ve been wrong before…
|
