Wu Xia
Reviewed by Jake Wilson
July 7, 2011
Donnie Yen is a deceptively humble craftsman in Wu Xia.
Reviewer rating:
Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
MA Selected release (116 minutes)
FROM the Crank series to 127 Hours, many recent films have used digital effects to show events occurring inside the body: blood rushing through veins, a rapidly beating heart. The technique gets a workout in Wu Xia, an entertaining martial arts mystery capably directed by Hong Kong veteran Peter Ho-sun Chan.
On the surface, paper manufacturer Liu Jinxi (Donnie Yen) is simply a humble craftsman, living quietly with his wife and sons on the outskirts of China in 1917. That's until a neighbouring shopkeeper is menaced by a couple of thugs, and Liu comes to the rescue, revealing unexpected cunning, agility and knowledge of anatomy.
Word of his victory spreads, and soon Liu receives a visit from the forensic investigator Xu (Takeshi Kaneshiro), a dapper but implacable gent who regards his fellow men as mere "sacks of stinking fluids".
Xu is convinced there's more to the object of his investigation than meets the eye, but his suspicion is blended with an increasing awe at Liu's uncanny physical gifts, from warding off flies with his aura to altering the density of his body at will.
It's a plot device that suits a film where everything is amplified, made bigger than life. When a gang boss (Jimmy Wang Yu) declares his rage, the trees tremble in sympathy; in the fight scenes characters routinely smash each other through walls, or somersault into the air.
Rapidly edited, these fights are often rendered in slow or fast motion: much of the impact stems from the sound effects, mingled with Peter Kam and Chan Kwong Wing's eclectic, rock-influenced score.
Disappointingly, there are only three major action sequences: the best involves guest star Kara Hui as a vengeful swordswoman who chases Liu over the village rooftops, a scenario as exuberantly improbable as anything in Kung Fu Panda 2.
Yet even in its slower stretches the film is never dull. Formerly best-known as a comedy director, Chan offsets the melodrama with lightly handled moments of incongruity - children gazing eagerly at an autopsy, Xu's use of acupuncture to reduce his empathy quotient.
He maintains interest, too, by creating a zone of mystery around both his protagonists, stressing the gap between staid appearance and inner turmoil. If Liu waits till the last minute to confess his true identity, Xu seems equally reluctant to remove his glasses and his Panama hat.
http://www.smh.com.au/entertainm ... 20110706-1h28b.html
