I quickly became a fan Wilson Yip. Over the course of five years, he made films such as “Stars of Destiny”, "Hot spot", "Ip Man" и “Ip Man 2”... Whereas “Dragon and Tiger Gate” terribly disappointed, two films about Ip Mane paid off, in particular, the first one became not only one of the best martial arts films, but also my favorite. So naturally, I was curious when it came to what the director would make after two of the most entertaining action films of recent years. One of these films was “The magic of victory” (Magic To Win), the second is a remake “Chinese Ghost Story” 1987. ABOUT “The Magic of Victory” In the states, few people know, so until recently I did not know about the existence of the film. Judging by the trailer, we should have been treated to some crazy action from time to time, but that never really happened.
It all starts off very promising, with the opening credits literally being stellar. Outer space, stars, and what looks like various galaxies are shown from a visual perspective that is very, very appetizing. The voiceover at the beginning of the film is also intriguing. The voiceover talks about how most people only use 10% of their brain, and 90% is unused potential. The narrator (Louis Koo) uses magic to lift a bottle of wine from a shelf, and it flies into his hands. According to him, if you use this 90%, then a person can become a superhero. Happening movie “The magic of victory” revolves around the magic of the five elements: wood, water, fire, earth and metal. The combination of all elements allows the mage to travel back in time, and the fire mage Booth E-Mo (Jackie Woo) intended just that.
The main problem is that in “The Magic of Victory” too much time wasted on unfunny, stupid humor when it could have been better to pursue what previously seemed like a promising concept. Mostly, everything falls on the shoulders Maisie Cheng (Yan Ni) and her volleyball teammates. In one of the plot branches, she encounters a professor during a thunderstorm Hoon (Raymond Wong), a water mage, and accidentally gains his magical powers. So, after it turns out that Maisie knows how to use magic, you mostly watch her, her annoying friends and their ridiculous jokes. This goes on for almost three quarters of the film. Did I mention what a terrible music video the creators made? As a result, it turned out as if Terry Gilliam decided to return to my roots in "Monty Python" and made a Chinese video about volleyball and magic with ridiculous lyrics. Lin Fung (Wu Chun), an earthbender, spends the entire film asking for help from Maisie, and it gets annoying very quickly. Too stupid, even for him.
A worthy villain is very important for a film like this, but Booth E-Mo, probably the most unimpressive villain I've seen in a long time. He starts out as a single-minded magician who will stop at nothing to get things done and looks intimidating at first, but then turns into a big mess when it becomes clear why he wants to go back in time. The special effects ruined things in their own way. They're not too bad at the end of the film, where a large number of them were required. A lot of things were achieved with a low budget, but in this case, the fewer special effects there were, the better the result. When it was all over, I was left with a feeling of cheapness.
“The magic of victory” – a natural example of wasted potential. A director who you know is capable of so much has given you a product that is simply not up to his level. The most interesting thing in “The Magic of Victory” faded into the background as absurd, stupid and unfunny humor came to the fore. It was as if glimmers of reason were buried under gigantic waves of idiocy. They went overboard with the special effects, since in the finale their number literally went off scale. “The magic of victory” looks like a mix of a low budget version “The Sorcerer's Apprentice” and most of the dumb moments from movies Jackie Chan. And with such glory no one will win.
Author: Deljhp
Source: 24framespersecond.net
Translation: EvilDollaR
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Tags: Magic To Win, Jackie Wu, Louis Koo, Wu Chun, Wilson Yip
Tags: Magic To Win, Jackie Wu, Louis Koo, Wu Chun, Wilson Yip
You can watch it once
The film is not bad, but the recent "City Hungter" is better in terms of action.
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