Dragon Tiger Gate (é¾è™Žé–€, Lung fu moon)
Donnie Yen, Nicholas Tse, Shawn Yue
Dir: Wilson Yip – 2006 – Hong Kong
When another HK movie decides to re-write the story from a comic book, one can only step back and hope they knew what they were thinking. Fair enough to say that there haven’t been very many successful attempts, but when it does work, the result can be spectacular (for example, as seen with The Stormriders). It’s hard to say, though, that this counts as one of those successes.
Dragon (Donnie Yen) and Tiger (Nicholas Tse) play brothers who grew up in the martial arts school, Dragon Tiger Gate. When their parents separate, their lives divide apart, and Dragon is later rescued by the leader of a triad gang Ma Kwun when his mother dies in a house fire, and Dragon pays him back by protecting him and his daughter. But a rosy life is spoilt by a grudge as a rival Shibumen takes revenge on Ma Kwun, Dragon and subsequently his old school, leading Dragon to return back to defend Dragon Tiger Gate in an ultimate fight.
True to say, this film has some fantastic martial arts action and Donnie Yen shows why he is one of the two best choreographers around at the moment (together with The Matrix choreographer Yuen Woo Ping). And as well as performing his own stunts with style, he brings in Nic Tse and Shawn Yue with some complex moves also, making it a fantastic visual feast if you’re a big kung fu fan.
But sadly, that’s where the good bits end. The script is relatively weak, characters are unbelievable, and there is little depth to the story. Which is a real shame, because given a little thought around developing a story, it wouldn’t have taken much for it to have become as good as some other comic transfers such as X-Men or Spider-Man. To say the truth, Hollywood has begun to get it right, Hong Kong is slipping behind.
All in all, this will be a good film for anyone who is looking for lots of martial arts action. Anyone looking for anything more will be disappointed. One for a few kicks.
Rating:
Links:
IMDb Entry for Dragon Tiger Gate
Buy this film at YesAsia