Nicolas F. Costoglou This movie is based on a comic book which i haven't read, but i understood the plot and characters surprisingly flawless through great storytelling.The cinematography and editing of this film is very stylish and fairly creative, especially with the interesting lighting of the settings.The stunts and fights are marvellously done, entertaining and, through great sound design, very impactful.The best part for me were (like i said) the characters. I understood the motivations of all of them, and never lost interest. A big part of this is the great storytelling, every time something is setup that seems to be little, or unimportant at first, it get's a big pay off.The actors all fit their roles very well, and it wasn't just a Donny Yen one-man-show like i expected, which was a big surprise.The visual effects are okay for the most part and not overdone (for the most part).The only real flaw is the pacing of the third act, which drags for a while and looses some of it's momentum before it get's to a big climactic fight, which is a good counter balance, but also fairly long.A heart-warming, investing story, full of great action and drama...

Sleepflower87 I think this movie is receiving unnecessary criticism due to people watching a poorly dubbed version of it - Don't be lazy - watch the original language with the English subtitles - You cannot get a full grasp of they story line or the actors abilities if you are not listening to their voices/emotions. I think this is a brilliant comic book movie - it is not meant to be realistic, but over-the-top fantasy - and that's why I love it. The fight scenes are intense and visually stunning, the colouring and design of the film is beautiful, and I think it is one of Donnie Yen's best performances in modern cinema. I had never heard of the film but it happened to be on rental offer so thought I would give it a go and have now watched it many times. I would recommend this film to anyone who is a fan of fantasy/martial art films (But do not watch the dubbed version!)

webmaster-3017 Entertaining yet uninspiring... Donnie Yen isn't exactly a fresh face, but with the action starved HK fans, he isn't half bad and perhaps the most consistent martial arts performer for the last 5 years. With several action director awards under his belt, his signature is written all over the bubble gum action in Twins Effect and the gritty crime in Sha Po Long. Much is expected of Yen and director Wilson Yip, coming off the incredibly well made – Sha Po Long, but one must not forget that the new film - Dragon Tiger Gate is comic book and therefore comparison between the two is rather unfair. Sure, Dragon Tiger Gate is filled with flaws, but at the same time it is comically entertaining without much tension and in a way with lower expectations, it certainly works to some extent. The movie goes like this: Donnie Yen is Dragon, who left the martial arts organization Dragon Tiger Gate years ago and is now working under triad leader Ma Kwun (Chen Kuan Tai, star of many Shaw Brothers swordplay films). Ma Kwun gets the Lousha Plaque which grants him the exclusive rights to do business with Shibumi, the evil leader of the Lousha Sect. Dragon's long-lost brother Tiger (Nicholas Tse), still living in Dragon Tiger Gate, accidentally gets hold of the Plaque, and the two brothers finally cross paths...Wilson Yip have certainly matured as a director and after viewing his resume of films like Bullet Over Summer with stands along with Sha Po Long as one of his best film, he have also created entertaining yet forgettable movies like 2002 and The White Dragon. Perhaps, Yip is in the 2002 mode for this film and the result isn't half bad. Like all his films, they are extremely well produced and excellently presented. One thing of particular interest is that Yip is very much a character director who attempts to extract a performance from his actors. Louis Koo in Bullet Over Summer, Simon Yam in Sha Po Long and even in lesser flicks – Francis Ng in White Dragon, but with a twist and a turn his attempt in Dragon Tiger Gate is suitably wasted in the form of Donnie Yen. Yen is brilliant fighter and has terrific physical presence, but seriously his attempts at acting are rather bland and forced. While other actors, in scenes such as the swimming pool scene can express a "Great Wall", Yen expresses nothing other than him being bulky. Of note, the chick in the swimming pool scene is seductively hot from what I remembered and her last impression to Neo is pretty memorable.The action in the flick isn't exactly top class, and at times, Shawn Yue and Nick Tse seems suitably more concerned with their weird hairdos than the actual action moves. For non-fighters, they did a pretty credible job, but pales in comparison with some brutal trademark kicks and physical presence of Yen. I don't know if it is just me, but to me, Yen's action directing seems the same in every movie and at times his trademark double kick seems more cliché than freshness. However, the last fight with Yen and the masked guy is of the best in recent years and definitely extremely entertaining to watch. Nick Tse is an actor that Neo praised in a number of movies with some good comic touches in most notably New Police Story and The Promise. Here, Tse doesn't do much either than act cool or let his hairdo do all the talking. In a way it is a wasted performance and like wise, Shawn Yue's hair does more than his needless performance. It is disappointing to realize that Shawn, whose potential is seen in Jiang Hu, is only given more than an extended cameo performance with Yen given the center of attention. As mentioned above, Yen is not much of an actor and his attempts at acting are even more laughable than Jackie Chan trying to be serious. It seems that Yen is now trying out to become a romantic lead, with a sexually daring performance in Seven Swords and now a romantic lead in Dragon Tiger Gate. Really, Yen isn't convincing, but whatever he lacks in character, he redeems himself with fists and kicks. Of the three action heavy weights, Chan, Yen and Li, Neo can be save to say that Jet Li is by far the best actor out of the pack. Dragon Tiger Gate is all in all a fun, entertaining yet rather forgettable flick. While I may seem to be contradicting myself, but for a Yip's film it just isn't up to scratch. The plot seems thin and the comic book isn't exactly tense, but the real downside is really the action. While it is still leaps above the state of HK cinema, it is in no standing to rival neither the action quality of Fearless nor the brutal feel of Sha Po Long. However, with all being said, Dragon Tiger Gate is by no means crap and in fact it can even be considered as a success as it reaches it ultimate aim of being entertaining. With lower expectations and defying the fact that Wilson Yip is the director or Donnie Yen trying to act, this movie can be pretty adequately fun to watch, but that's about it… (Neo 2006)I rate it 7.75/10.www.thehkneo.com

to_kill_better A few recent movies have raised the bar for Hong Kong action cinema. Aside from the obvious "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" which introduced a moving plot and quality acting to the genre, "Ong Bak" raised the stakes for action by replacing gracefully balletic Wu Shu fights with acrobatic but brutal, hard-hitting action. Similarly, the Korean movie "Fighter in the Wind" also followed the hard hitting formula but added stylish camera-work to the mix. Luckily, "Dragon Tiger Gate" shows that Hong Kong kung fu cinema does have the skills to match these foreign usurpers.The first thing that jumps out at the viewer is the rather contrived but undeniably stylish air of "cool" that surrounds the lead characters with their snappy streetwear and (quite amusing) emo haircuts. These guys are ass kicking metrosexuals! Luckily they ass-kick very well! Following the Ong Bak formula, the opening fight scene shows foot hitting face with real force and the fighting style replaces the graceful wu shu of traditional Hong Kong cinema with something that looks more like Japanese karate or one of the harder, external forms of kung fu - not much posing or flowery stances but lots of straight to the point slamming strikes.So the film looks great and the fights are cool - how about the plotting? Crouching Tiger standard? Of course not! It's a standard formula about estranged brothers on different sides of the tracks coming back together to defeat evil. But this really isn't the kind of movie where the plotting makes much difference (and, to be honest, when Hong Kong cinema tries intricate plotting you usually get an over-long and unfollowable movie, so fair play to them for keeping it simple!) - what you really want is quality fighting and stylish visuals and this movie more than delivers. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it to kung fu movie fans.