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"Fuse": a kung fu movie returning to the era of hand-to-hand combat □ Text / Vulcan Ji
What kind of visual effects are we asking for? No matter how the film is made, there will always be someone to scold and someone to praise. So, when we feel the right taste, do we still demand more things? Joey Tribbiani once taught me: Just do it; film critics are just people who can't be actors and directors, and who should care what they think. - Vulcan Ji. Inscription.
Hong Kong kung fu movies have gone through a long period of weakness. Along with the overall weakness of action movies around the world, too many computer stunts and too much artificiality seem to be less authentic than the Thai "Kung Fu" series; it can be said that, It is the simple hand-to-hand combat style of the "Fist Fighter" series that gives us the feeling that it shines, and it also brings us back to the old era of kung fu movies that have passed away. Starting from "Slaying the Wolf" in 2005, Hong Kong's kung fu movies have given us enough surprises and completely announced the complete end of the weak period of Hong Kong kung fu movies; The cruel analysis of human nature and reality has reached a certain depth; in comparison, "Dragon Tiger Gate" and "The True Color of a Man" may be worse, but at least it gives us such a perception, Hong Kong movies, Hong Kong kung fu movies are not dead. It is important to give us hope in times of near hopelessness.
For fans of pure action movies, those emotional scenes in action movies are always ignored, and they are played smoothly and beautifully from beginning to end. Maybe that is the best kung fu movie. Therefore, in order to please pure action fans, many action films always sacrifice literary drama and pay more attention to the design of action scenes. However, the film's action design and plot choreography may be called evenly matched, which is enough to surprise more fans than pure action fans like me. Of course, the plot design of this movie is still rough compared to literary films that rely solely on plot to win; however, if compared to other action films, the plot of this movie is well-made.
What I like more is the literary and drama part of this film; perhaps, because other kung fu movies are always too concerned with the plot arrangement of literary dramas, this one is obviously fuller. Use a pressure cooker full of big bills and a bowl of instant noodles for the birthday to reflect the character's heart; if the final battle between Donnie Yen and Zou Zhaolong is the most gorgeous visual hand-to-hand combat in the movie's martial arts, then it can also be It is said that in this film, Gu Tianle's embarrassing status as an undercover agent and his emotional development with the beer girl Qiudi played by Fan Bingbing constitute the most important clue in the literary and drama part of this film. The film takes into account the friendship between Ma Jun and Watson, the love between Watson and Qiu Di, and Huang Sir's love for his subordinates as a superior. As the villain, the brother's cruelty to the outside world and his filial piety to his mother contrast the characters' emotions. The reason why I say that this movie's literary drama is excellent is because this movie may not be very delicate in the details of the plot. It uses a very simple and clear contradiction between the police and bandits, the contradiction between justice and evil to support the plot of the whole movie. Outline, however it does a great job of shaping the characters and taking into account the multifaceted nature of the characters.
Emotions, love and undercover has become a routine, the literary drama constructed by all these may not surprise us. However, the full personality reflected by the several characters created in this film is worthy of praise.
Of course, as an action movie, the most important thing should still be the rationality and watchability of its action design. First of all, this is a kung fu movie returning to the era of hand-to-hand combat, which seems indisputable to me; at least it is much better than Donnie Yen's last film, Dragon Tiger Gate. In other words, the melee-style punches in place are more attractive to me than the dazzling computer effects. Violence, hitting, fighting; this film introduces more entanglement, buckle, pressing and hitting in close combat, perhaps not as handsome as previous action films that focus on styling, but it is definitely more realistic and practical. Of course, we can't really add the practicality of the action design of this movie, but in the movie, we see a more mature Donnie Yen, and the close combat that is closer to actual combat is obviously more convincing force. The final battle between Donnie Yen and Zou Zhaolong may not be comparable to the two gorgeous battles between Donnie Yen and Wu Jing and Sammo Hung in "Slaying the Wolf", but compared to the three-year battle between Lv Bu in "The True Color of Men" in which Wu Jing took the lead. The finale battle is much better. In this movie, A Hu brought a little girl back to threaten Ma Jun, who was chasing after him, and finally threw the little girl ten meters away and killed her. Maybe the movie just wanted to show the ruthlessness and madness of this character, and also foreshadowed the relationship between Ma Jun and the dead tiger, but such a description is not necessary for the overall plot of the movie, so it seems a bit redundant . This set of shots reminded me of Edison Chen and Li Cansen's "Dog Eats Dog"; but that movie seems to be more about digging out the most straightforward desire to survive at the bottom of human nature, and it's a bit too cruel and superfluous to put it in this movie.
Performing and being excellent means pointing and directing. Donnie Yen's diligence and conscientiousness let us see new hope for Hong Kong Kung Fu movies. From an action star with a professional background to a screenwriter, martial artist, and action director, Donnie Yen, who is also a multi-tasker, is getting wider and wider in his acting career. At the same time, we see a gradually mature and stable "Zhen Kung Fu" style. This "Fuse", written by Situ Jinpeng, directed by Yip Weixin, with Donnie Yen as the action director and starring, Lv Liangwei and Zou Zhaolong as the villains, Gu Tianle and Fan Bingbing as the main roles, and Zheng Zeshi's performance without water, is an action movie. That said, there's no way a lineup like this will let us down. It can be said that this is one of my favorite kung fu movies I have seen in recent years. The equal emphasis on literary and martial arts seems to be more able to win the favor of the audience in the potential market for this movie. And in the design of martial arts, this kind of kung fu movies that return to the era of hand-to-hand combat can also attract pure action movie fans. In this movie, I would like to say that what I see is the exquisite future of Hong Kong kung fu movies; at least, we should not despair.
2007-08-22; Wuzi day, Wushen month, Dinghai year. Dog days 9.
P.S.: Movie information extension link. ■Title: "Fuse" ■Translation: "Flash Point" ■Directors: Wilson Yip, Donnie Yen ■Starring: Donnie Yen, Louis Koo, Collin Chou, Fan Bingbing (Bingbing Fan), Ray Lui ■Region: Hong Kong ■Genre: Action ■Duration: 88 min ■Language: Cantonese, Mandarin Chinese ■Distribution: Cinebox ■Released: August 3, 2007
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