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| The Banquet | aka Legend of the Black Scorpion (2006) Review Posted: 26 Mar 2015 12:01 AM PDT  "The Banquet" Chinese Theatrical Poster AKA: The Night Banquet By HKFanatic Sometimes a film is less than the sum of its parts. The Legend of the Black Scorpion is a lavishly produced, visually sumptuous period film that brings the story of Hamlet to the Ten Kingdoms era of Chinese history. In front of the camera is an attractive cast including Zhang Ziyi, Daniel Wu, and Zhou Xun (Painted Skin remake). The film was directed by Feng Xiaogang (A World Without Thieves) and features action choreography by Yuen Woo-Ping, a living legend who needs no introduction. Yet somehow, this movie left me completely cold. There’s no denying Hamlet is a difficult story to translate to film. Any screenwriting class will tell you that your protagonist needs to be dynamic – to make choices, react to events, and have an external as well as an internal conflict. The character of Hamlet is all about brooding, pacing, and internal conflict. He spends most of the story paralyzed with indecision. Shakespeare made it work but how do you do that in a 2 hour movie without it seeming, well, boring? Daniel Wu is a talented actor but I’m not sure he takes well to the part of Hamlet. He spends most of the film looking teary-eyed and stricken with sorrow. Yet he doesn’t do much about it, as per the source text. It probably doesn’t help that that the costume department made his hair is taller than he is. There’s even a silly-looking scene where Zhou Xun combs his long locks for him while his hair is draped in a bubbling pond (I’d like to see one of those installed at my local salon). Zhang Ziyi is the femme fatale. She’s very good at this kind of wrathful role but I can’t say her character is very likable. She’s manipulative and knows how to use sex as a weapon. Speaking of sex, this film is a bit more risque than I was expecting for what I assume is a Category II film. There’s a lot of caressing and moaning, people ripping their clothes, the King inquiring as to how well Zhang Ziyi’s previous husband – his brother! – satisfied her in bed. I’m not saying this is full on Sex and Zen territory but it comes closer than any other wuxia-style film I’ve seen. It’s one thing for the story to be glacially-paced but the action suffers too. A bloody opening featuring plenty of severed limbs and decapitated heads builds up false excitement for the rest of the film. I almost wonder if Yuen Woo-Ping had too much creative control here: the fight scenes are so reliant on wires and slow motion that they feel more ballet than combat. Maybe it’s to cover for the fact that Daniel Wu isn’t a martial artist. But the “fights” are way too fluid and pretty. I want to see somebody actually throw a punch – not Swan Lake! The Legend of Black Scorpion was Hong Kong’s 2006 submission for Best Foreign Film at the Academy Awards. China submitted The Curse of the Golden Flower. Despite their similar Western-ized titles and Shakespearen ambitions, the films couldn’t be farther apart. Curse featured sumptuous drama, a bravado performance from Gong Li, and fantastic fight scenes. In comparison, The Banquet is ornate and removed, like a pristine Chinese vase the viewer is only allowed to admire behind glass. The movie never pulls you in. By HKFanatic’s Rating: 5/10 |
| Sony snatches ‘Robotech’ for a live-action franchise! Posted: 25 Mar 2015 01:04 AM PDT  "The Super Dimension Fortress Macross" Japanese DVD Cover After years of development hell, Warner Bros. is finally moving forward with their big screen, live-action adaptation of Robotech… wait a minute. We’ve heard this before, right? Does this mean third time’s the charm… According to Deadline, Andy Muschietti, who directed the 2013 Spanish-Canadian horror film, Mama, is being eyed to direct. Michael Gordon (G.I. Joe: the Rise of Cobra) is writing the screenplay, and Gianni Nunnari (The Departed) and Mark Canton (300) are producing. We first heard of the live-action Robotech movie back in 2008. At the time, Tobey Maguire was set to produce and Lawrence Kasdan (The Empire Strikes Back) was brought on board to write. Then, Robotech disappeared. A few years later, news broke that Nic Mathieu (Spectral) was “officially” attached to helm the adaptation. Around this time, there were rumors flying around that Leonardo DiCaprio (The Wolf of Wall Street) was in talks to play one of the lead characters. Somewhere along the way, Maguire lost interest, Kasdan went on to scribe some flick called Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens and the idea of a live-action Robotech was once again shelved indefinitely. Whatever the case was back then, the newest update – if it’s happening – is exciting news if you’re familiar with Robotech. If you’re not, here’s a brief history: 1985′s Robotech – which was basically mash up of three, unrelated Japanese cartoons by Tatsunoko Productions – was one of the first titles responsible for igniting anime fandom. On the surface, you can say that Robotech is about piloted, transforming robots that battle aliens (*cough* Pacific Rim); but what really made Robotech special was its edgy themes of love, death and war. It wasn’t your average happy-go-lucky G.I. Joe or Transformers episode. People got killed. Relationships were complicated. And the storytelling was fascinating. Simply put, if done right, a live-action Robotech could be epic. Updates: Deadline reports that Sony has acquired the rights to Robotech and are planning on developing it as a worldwide franchise. It’s unclear if Andy Muschietti (Mama) is still attached as director, but we’ll be sure to keep you in the loop as we hear more. Hopefully it’s not another 3 years from now. |
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