Against the backdrop of action films with Donnie Yen, which sometimes delight and sometimes upset fans of martial arts films, “Once Upon a Time in Shanghai” looks like a long-awaited gift to all connoisseurs of the genre. The list of actors is headed by Phillip Ng, a Wing Chun practitioner, followed by Andy On, who trained with Jackie Chan's stunt team, and then - Sammo Hungg, which does not need a separate introduction. But the most amazing thing is that the director was none other than Yuen Wuping, who is without a doubt legendary in his own right.
Indeed, the fight scenes can only be described in one word - impressive. Working alongside an experienced choreographer Yuen Chongyan, Yuen Wuping proves why he is a great master at directing fights. There is an ease and fluidity in all the episodes, the alternation of techniques is easy and graceful, and the final result is beautiful in its own way. It goes without saying that Yuen was helped by the fact that he was working with real martial arts practitioners: despite weeks and even months (as was the case with Tony Leung) of training, you will never notice that the actors' movements were rehearsed in advance.
36-year-old Phillip Ng did not disappoint the choreographers. The film begins with him protecting a little girl from bullies on his way to Shanghai, and it is immediately clear that Ng has the physicality and energy to rival Bruce Lee. His first worthy opponent comes in the form of Andy On, the ferocity and speed of the blows they inflict are a stunning sight. Then, of course, there comes a long climax when he fights three venerable screen fighters at once (Yuen Chongyan, Chen Kuan-tai and Fung Hak-On), and then moves on to a younger and well-matched opponent (Mao Jun Jie).
However, viewers who were hoping for a fight between Ng and Sammo Hung will have to wait for another film, because here they both starred in positive roles. Hungg plays the role of the head of the village in which Ng's character finds refuge, and Hungg's on-screen daughter eventually falls in love with the main character. It is also worth warning you that Hungg, in essence, shows little here, although it is possible that his fee is not inferior to the fees of Ng and On. The inscription on one of the posters says about the “alliance of kung fu masters” (Sammo Hung and Yuen Wuping), is somewhat misleading, since his role can without hesitation be called secondary. But even with that caveat, the fights in this film are some of the best we've seen in a historical martial arts film in recent memory, and they more than live up to the expectations fans had for a year and a half since Ng and Yuen's collaboration was announced a year and a half ago. .
Fights aside, the rest of the film feels like an extension of writer/producer Wong Jing's The Last Tycoon. Here the action also takes place in Shanghai in the 20s and 30s of the last century, in the “city of dreams”, where residents of other provinces of China flocked in search of fortune and fame. Like the latter, there are criminal elements in the plot, this time in the form of Andy On's character Qi Long. And finally, as in the above, it reeks of patriotism, as the worker Zhen Ma Yun (Ng) and Qi Long join forces to defeat the treacherous Japanese spies who have infiltrated the city with the aim of capturing it. Jing's script may not be very convincing, but this narrative is enough to tie together the fight scenes.
After all of the above, it’s easy to forget that young director Wong Chin Po was in charge of the filming. Throughout the film, which does not fit very well into his filmography, skillful artistic touches are visible, which not every film can boast of. Won must be given credit for not only giving the film a "classic" feel, but also for keeping the potential shortcomings of Wong Jing's script from showing through - after all, the formulaic love story between Ng and Jiang Liuxia (as well as between On and Michelle, a nightclub singer), thanks to Vaughn’s efforts, it did not descend into the level of melodrama, as it did in “The Last Tycoon.”
This is perhaps one of those rare martial arts films that can be called "elegant", and it's not about the fight choreography. Of course, the main focus is on rising star Phillip Ng and his co-star Andy He, possessing special magnetism, and, perhaps, even greater charisma than Ng, as well as Yuen Wuping, respected by all. If that's not enough for you, the fights in the film are simply breathtaking, right up to the amazing ending that you will want to watch more than once. As a remake of the 1972 film The Boxer of Shandong, which starred Chen Kuan-tai as the title character, Once Upon a Time in Shanghai is a pleasant throwback to the old-school action films that propelled Hong Kong's film industry. But even if this pleasant little thing does not excite your imagination, you will somehow have to make sure that you are dealing with a good historical action movie that is in no way inferior to its predecessors.
Rating: 4,5 / 5
Author: Gabriel Chon
Source: moviexclusive.com
Translation: EvilDollaR
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Tags: Once Upon A Time In Shanghai, Mao Jun Jie, Sammo Hung, Philip Ng, Fung Hak-on, Jiang Luxia, Chen Kuantai, Andy He, Yuen Wu-Ping, Yuen Chongyan
Tags: Once Upon A Time In Shanghai, Mao Jun Jie, Sammo Hung, Philip Ng, Fung Hak-on, Jiang Luxia, Chen Kuantai, Andy He, Yuen Wu-Ping, Yuen Chongyan
There is a full movie on YouTube.
Cranberry, of course, but I thought it would be worse. There are some good moments. But in general: a little taken from Bruce, a little from Donnie, a couple of fashionable drums, and the usual Whoopin.
amuo, please tell me, give me the link
The film has already appeared, although without translation. The staging of the fights didn’t impress me, I thought it would be better.
The author, apparently, was mistaken. I'll correct it now. Thank you.
Correction: Philip Ng is 36. Born September 18, 1977.
Here's a quick look at the masterpiece that Wu Ping shot as a director. Drunken Master, Drunken Tai Chi, Tiger Cage 1-2, Iron Monkey, Tai Chi Master, Wing Chun. And it’s impossible to count how many cult films he choreographed fights in. He is not only a cult figure - he has long been an undisputed legend who does not need to prove anything.
By the way, yes, I agree))) At least there was a lot of irony and self-irony in this.
Moreover, the coolest double I saw... was Sammo =D
And doubles, and tees and extensions. When someone compares someone to Bruce Lee, they say, “this is our new Bruce Lee,” and so on, it always seems to me to be in bad taste, disrespect for Bruce and a general lack of erudition and education in this area on the part of the speaker. These are lies, simple words that are said when they don’t know what else to say. From the series: this is our new Freddie Mercury or... this is our future Clint Eastwood.
Gold words. How many Bruce doubles were there in the 70s, does anyone remember them??? And the only people who were remembered were people like Jackie, Jet and Donnie, who did not become imitators and found their own style.
Speaking of Andy, I probably also agree, I haven’t seen many pictures of him, but lately I’ve become more interested in him.
High five!!! =)
I agree, BUT I find the rope fights in The Matrix much more enjoyable than the fights in Hero or Some Dragon and Some Tiger. In The Matrix, I like the setting better (weapons, the near future, suits, black cloaks), and the superpowers of ORDINARY people are explained, whereas in Chinese films - ordinary people live in our world... but they fly like birds =)
As expected. Tony Jaa's worst film. Absolutely weak and illogical action is spoiled by the terrible graphics and obvious ropes. Tony is no longer the same. How disappointed I was with so many expectations, but in the end I got this. 3D is not at all the place here. In general, even the fights They don’t stand next to Adkinson’s fights in Ninja 2. Horrible editing and camera work. Everything is too small, you don’t have time to see anything. How did people who made the film a masterpiece 10 years ago were able to make such misery 10 years later by investing 3 times more money in it.
Defender 2 came out only without transfer.
So he’s been “hooked” on cables since the 90s, before that almost everything was “live”, including Donnie Yen’s early films “Tiger Cage”, “On Line 4”, etc. !
Not totally bad, but uninteresting. Personally for me. I think Yuen Wuping never felt them, but for reasons known and unknown, he became popular in this genre. But in general we can say: +1, so, Celpaso, there are two of us)
None of the BI connoisseurs like cables.
And the matrix, by the way, is not the best example. No matter how much they praise Reeves’s black belt, he is far from being a master.
Personally, I doubt it. To remain in history, he needs to do exactly the opposite of Bruce. Here's Andy He's great! It compares very favorably with much in Asian contemporary cinema.
Once upon a time in China, by the way, very good work by Wu Ping. Even though it has cables, it looks interesting.
A phrase from another review: “minimal use of wirework flying kung fu (which I despise).”
And the conclusion is from the same place: “More movies like this, please.”
I hope that Phillip NG will have a good future in cinema, he is a very memorable fighter and his movements in the trailer for the film were clean and beautiful, he really reminds me of Bruce Lee. This is not Zheng Liu!
Looks like I'm really the only one. =) I don’t like cables, and besides The Matrix I haven’t seen anything good from his work.
Is this some kind of joke?
Strange...am I the only one in the world who thinks that Yuen Wuping = bad fights???