akiveverkova
I saw this film this evening at the Freer Gallery in Washington, DC, as part of their 10th Annual Made in Hong Kong Festival. Yes, yes I understand it is the first ever computer generated kung-fu movie out of Hong Kong, but it was awful. I guess this is as much a rant about the film as it is about including it in the film festival. This is an example of a highly pandering (can you say that?) direct to video for pre-schoolers. The animation is completely awful. It looks like a late 80s video game...just purely awful. I will give it that some of the fighting is 'neat', but did that make me want to sit through 90 mins of horror for? NO. It references countless films. As a cinephile of course ya get me every time...but in recent days this has become far too much (a few other films in this 'genre' come to mind). It is just one and another reference, line, on and on...are you trying justify us parents (not that I am one) sitting through this garbage? This is a great example of a direct to video minor film. Then again do we need more examples of that?
abentenjo
Hong Kong's first fully-fledged computer-animated movie is, for the most part, a treat. Distinctly Chinese in its orchestration, the fantasy elements are played up for the kids, the humour a little too cagey to really laugh at, while the martial arts spectacles are really quite astonishing. The story concerns local hero Hung Lang, a kung fu supremo, who befriends a talking bird (of course) and is sent on a dangerous adventure to retain the sacred Dragon Blade from the mystically cavernous underworld known as Asteria, facing insurmountable peril along the way, in order to slain the Boar King, a giant pig-looking tyrant causing havoc in the town. The characters are a little wet, particularly our soulless hero, yet Karen Mok's engaging sidekick Ying Ying is a worthy substitute, and the delirious spurts of action make the whole experience quite compelling.
annhellan
I really wasn't hot on seeing this film. I'm not into cartoons, and even less into fighting movies. But my friends wanted to see it and so in I went. I have to say that going to watch the film with not expecting anything much might have helped, but I actually really liked it. I'm amazed that this was made in Hong Kong. The last thing I saw like this was Shrek which was very funny - but this is actually a lot more cooler. Even with me not being into fight stuff I was really tensed up for the fighting bits. I actually left nail marks on my bf's arm :p Also, what I really liked was that they didn't make the girl part (Ying Ying) in the film too girly. I mean, she was actually even cooler than the lead guy. I really had to laugh at the way she controlled Lang - go girl power go! I'm going to get the DVD and learn some of her moves ;)
Robert Chan
At first I thought, "what did I get myself into?". Twenty minutes into the movie and I started looking at my watch and wishing that I wasn't here. I didn't come all the way to Hong Kong to watch a crap Kungfu movie! Then all of a sudden
Ka-POW! Talk about being worth the wait. DragonBlade is a roller coaster ride with a long way up in the beginning. And as we all know, the further up that roller coaster goes... the bigger and more exciting that ride ends up. I just can't imagine anyone getting the total impact of the fights without watching it on the big screen
the fights are so in your face that it absolutely pulls you in. So worth seeing.
AD
