| After about five or so attempts, I finally dragged my ass through the entire running time of this dissapointing Seasonal flick, and to say I was bored while doing so would be an understatement. The funny thing is, I can't really explain why. I had a similar experience watching SECRET RIVALS and INVINCIBLE ARMOUR, but to a lesser extent though. This one just didn't do it for me, in any way. But let me try and do the math on it, real quick. For starters, I am not really a fan of Meng Fei, I think he has the charisma of wet cardboard. Not a huge fan of John Liu either, although I have enjoyed him in a few films (loved MAR'S VILLA).
I didn't think the fights in this movie were anything special either. Not even the end fight, with Fei and Liu squaring off against my man Hwang Jang Lee. Most of it seemed slow and rehearsal-like, and you know something is terribly wrong when you even mention the words 'slow' and 'Hwang Jang Lee' in the same breath.
It also had Wong Yat Lung, that annoying kid from SLEEPING FIST and THUNDERING MANTIS in it, so that automatically drags it even further down a few notches. The whole premise was actually promising. Russian and Chinese spy styff, secret messages, cool techniques and just general skullduggery all around. But it just didn't come together at the end of the day, and ended up as a steaming pile of wasted opportunity. I can't give this more than a single star. One half for Hwang Jang Lee, and one half for Roy Horan, and that is only out of respect. |
Viewer Comments:
