Legend of Zu is a dazzling turkey that stinks
08-11-01 | 01:39 PM
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Legend of Zu is a dazzling turkey that stinks
well, I went to see Zu today. Here's a review:
Legend of Zu
Starring: Ekin Cheng, Cecilia Cheung, Louis Koo, Jacky Wu, Zhang Ziyi, Sammo Hung, Patrick Tam, Kelly Lin
The Plot:
An evil supernatural energy is causing havoc among the Zu Mountains. Dawn (Cecilia Cheung), the master of Kun Lun Sect, advises his 200 year old student Sky King (Ekin Cheng) to leave her so that he could concentrate on fulfilling his potential. As a farewell gift, she bestows upon him the Moon Blade, her spiritual weapon. With the loss of the weapon, Dawn is defenceless against Insomnia, the evil spirit, and so she dies.
Another 200 years pass, and Insomnia returns to Zu Mountain, this time to destroy the Omei Sect, headed by Master Whitebrow (Sammo Hung, who reprises his role from the original Zu film). Whitebrow orders his first student, Red (Louis Koo), to evacuate the people living in the mountains, but before Red is able to, Insomnia attacks the Omei mountain. Whitebrow is able to withstand the onslaught with his trusty Sky Reflector weapon, and aided by Sky King, he breaks Insomnia¡¦s attack and force the evil to hide in a cave. Red is ordered to stay and guard the cave¡¦s opening while Whitebrow and Sky King are off to find the ultimate weapon that would destroy Insomnia for good.
Sky King encounters Enigma (Cecilia Cheung again), a student from Omei that looks uncannily like his dead master. He is told by Whitebrow that Enigma is the reincarnated form of Dawn, and is one half of the ultimate weapon. The other half is in a young lad called Ying (Jacky Wu). When the time is right, Enigma and Ying should merge into one being, as this will combine the two weapons they possess ¡V the Heaven and Thunder swords, into one ultimate weapon that would destroy Insomnia.
Meanwhile, Red is possessed by a pixie girl (Kelly Lin) and becomes evil, killing his own brethren, kidnapping Enigma and destroying Omei mountain himself. Sky King must muster every power he has to kill Red and rescue Enigma before Insomnia devours them all.
Summary:
Before even the main titles roll, I knew this film would be full of CGI effects from start to finish, and I wasn¡¦t wrong at all in that presumption. The problem is that instead of enhancing the story, the CGI effects completely ruin the narrative tale, and leaves the viewer feeling empty at the end.
Legend of Zu is very similar to the original Zu film, with the same sort of characters and situations, and even the same ending. Alas, while the thin plot worked for the original Zu, the modern version suffers alarmingly. It is not helped by the mediocre characterisation and zero believability. The main characters are wooden and completely devoid of emotions, and by the end of the film, you¡¦d wished that Insomnia had devoured them and drank their souls. I¡¦d nearly fell into a coma watching this, and even the so-called ¡¥state of the art¡¦ special effects didn't do a thing for me. Sure, they are pretty to look at, and you¡¦d admire at the inventive use of computer graphics to blend into the action, but the actual combative action is very boring. Yuen Woo Ping was brought in as action choreographer but I didn¡¦t see any of his trademark fight sequences. Most of the actors stayed indoors and acted in front of a green screen. Most of the fights came in the light of spinning swords and flashing blades with the characters flying all over the place like Superman on Ecstacy.
Wasted was the casting of Zhang Ziyi, Patrick Tam and Kelly Lin, who all had about five minutes of screen time. Their presence in the story was moot, with the exception of Kelly Lin, whose character turned the good Louis Koo into a baddie. Sammo Hung, whose presence in the original film greatly benefited the story, was totally meaningless in this version. He acted like some god, bereft of the endearing qualities he possessed as the old master in the original.
Both Ekin Cheng and Louis Koo were boring. All they did was look cool and moody, and I don¡¦t think Ekin Cheng ever smiled once in the whole film. Cheng isn¡¦t a bad actor, but in this, he just looked second rate. Cecilia Cheung was also very dull as Enigma, and lacked any semblance of personality. What I did found uncanny was that her Dawn character looked very much like Bridget Lin Chin Hsia¡¦s in the original Zu. But given that most of them stood in front of a green screen, you¡¦ll forgive them for acting so stilted. I don¡¦t even want to mention about the quality of the dialogue.
What about the CGI? In two words: amazing and overmuch. I give Tsui Hark credit in creating one of the most dazzling films to come out of HK. The CGI completely blows away those of StormRiders and A Man Called Hero. Most spectacular are the Moon Blade, Red¡¦s wings made of daggers, and the Sky Reflector. Sure, the special effects look great and is the perfect eye candy for us all, but I still prefer the sfx from the original Zu. Nothing beats those multiple swords used by Adam Cheng ¡V at least they looked kinda real. In Legend of Zu, the CGI only confirmed that these sfx were all fake, and everything looked corny and out of sync.
Just as George Lucas used too much CGI in The Phantom Menace and forsaking a solid story, Tsui Hark repeats the same mistakes with Legend of Zu. It is very infuriating because Tsui Hark is a great filmmaker famed for directing films with great storylines such as A Chinese Ghost Story and Once Upon a Time in China. Even his original Zu had some kind of plot to it, including a romantic storyline between Adam Cheng and Lin Ching Hsia. But there¡¦s nothing of the sort in Legend of Zu. It¡¦s dull from start to finish, and the spectacular CGI can¡¦t save it from being a pile of digital dung. What a total waste of talent and money.
Legend of Zu
Starring: Ekin Cheng, Cecilia Cheung, Louis Koo, Jacky Wu, Zhang Ziyi, Sammo Hung, Patrick Tam, Kelly Lin
The Plot:
An evil supernatural energy is causing havoc among the Zu Mountains. Dawn (Cecilia Cheung), the master of Kun Lun Sect, advises his 200 year old student Sky King (Ekin Cheng) to leave her so that he could concentrate on fulfilling his potential. As a farewell gift, she bestows upon him the Moon Blade, her spiritual weapon. With the loss of the weapon, Dawn is defenceless against Insomnia, the evil spirit, and so she dies.
Another 200 years pass, and Insomnia returns to Zu Mountain, this time to destroy the Omei Sect, headed by Master Whitebrow (Sammo Hung, who reprises his role from the original Zu film). Whitebrow orders his first student, Red (Louis Koo), to evacuate the people living in the mountains, but before Red is able to, Insomnia attacks the Omei mountain. Whitebrow is able to withstand the onslaught with his trusty Sky Reflector weapon, and aided by Sky King, he breaks Insomnia¡¦s attack and force the evil to hide in a cave. Red is ordered to stay and guard the cave¡¦s opening while Whitebrow and Sky King are off to find the ultimate weapon that would destroy Insomnia for good.
Sky King encounters Enigma (Cecilia Cheung again), a student from Omei that looks uncannily like his dead master. He is told by Whitebrow that Enigma is the reincarnated form of Dawn, and is one half of the ultimate weapon. The other half is in a young lad called Ying (Jacky Wu). When the time is right, Enigma and Ying should merge into one being, as this will combine the two weapons they possess ¡V the Heaven and Thunder swords, into one ultimate weapon that would destroy Insomnia.
Meanwhile, Red is possessed by a pixie girl (Kelly Lin) and becomes evil, killing his own brethren, kidnapping Enigma and destroying Omei mountain himself. Sky King must muster every power he has to kill Red and rescue Enigma before Insomnia devours them all.
Summary:
Before even the main titles roll, I knew this film would be full of CGI effects from start to finish, and I wasn¡¦t wrong at all in that presumption. The problem is that instead of enhancing the story, the CGI effects completely ruin the narrative tale, and leaves the viewer feeling empty at the end.
Legend of Zu is very similar to the original Zu film, with the same sort of characters and situations, and even the same ending. Alas, while the thin plot worked for the original Zu, the modern version suffers alarmingly. It is not helped by the mediocre characterisation and zero believability. The main characters are wooden and completely devoid of emotions, and by the end of the film, you¡¦d wished that Insomnia had devoured them and drank their souls. I¡¦d nearly fell into a coma watching this, and even the so-called ¡¥state of the art¡¦ special effects didn't do a thing for me. Sure, they are pretty to look at, and you¡¦d admire at the inventive use of computer graphics to blend into the action, but the actual combative action is very boring. Yuen Woo Ping was brought in as action choreographer but I didn¡¦t see any of his trademark fight sequences. Most of the actors stayed indoors and acted in front of a green screen. Most of the fights came in the light of spinning swords and flashing blades with the characters flying all over the place like Superman on Ecstacy.
Wasted was the casting of Zhang Ziyi, Patrick Tam and Kelly Lin, who all had about five minutes of screen time. Their presence in the story was moot, with the exception of Kelly Lin, whose character turned the good Louis Koo into a baddie. Sammo Hung, whose presence in the original film greatly benefited the story, was totally meaningless in this version. He acted like some god, bereft of the endearing qualities he possessed as the old master in the original.
Both Ekin Cheng and Louis Koo were boring. All they did was look cool and moody, and I don¡¦t think Ekin Cheng ever smiled once in the whole film. Cheng isn¡¦t a bad actor, but in this, he just looked second rate. Cecilia Cheung was also very dull as Enigma, and lacked any semblance of personality. What I did found uncanny was that her Dawn character looked very much like Bridget Lin Chin Hsia¡¦s in the original Zu. But given that most of them stood in front of a green screen, you¡¦ll forgive them for acting so stilted. I don¡¦t even want to mention about the quality of the dialogue.
What about the CGI? In two words: amazing and overmuch. I give Tsui Hark credit in creating one of the most dazzling films to come out of HK. The CGI completely blows away those of StormRiders and A Man Called Hero. Most spectacular are the Moon Blade, Red¡¦s wings made of daggers, and the Sky Reflector. Sure, the special effects look great and is the perfect eye candy for us all, but I still prefer the sfx from the original Zu. Nothing beats those multiple swords used by Adam Cheng ¡V at least they looked kinda real. In Legend of Zu, the CGI only confirmed that these sfx were all fake, and everything looked corny and out of sync.
Just as George Lucas used too much CGI in The Phantom Menace and forsaking a solid story, Tsui Hark repeats the same mistakes with Legend of Zu. It is very infuriating because Tsui Hark is a great filmmaker famed for directing films with great storylines such as A Chinese Ghost Story and Once Upon a Time in China. Even his original Zu had some kind of plot to it, including a romantic storyline between Adam Cheng and Lin Ching Hsia. But there¡¦s nothing of the sort in Legend of Zu. It¡¦s dull from start to finish, and the spectacular CGI can¡¦t save it from being a pile of digital dung. What a total waste of talent and money.
08-11-01 | 07:22 PM
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Excellent review... I'm probably going to pick this up on DVD anyway... 
This opinion seems to be the consensus though - I haven't seen anybody yet who thought it was good.
This opinion seems to be the consensus though - I haven't seen anybody yet who thought it was good.
08-11-01 | 10:03 PM
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08-11-01 | 10:10 PM
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here are some of the other English-language reviews of LOZ that I found, most are not so glowing:
http://www.mhvf.net/forum/asian/posts/108221732.html
http://www.kowloonside.com/movies/thelegendofzu.html
http://www.mhvf.net/forum/asian/posts/108221624.html
http://www.mhvf.net/forum/asian/posts/108221637.html
http://www.totallyhk.com/TimeOff/Ent...2104004704.asp
http://www.mhvf.net/forum/asian/posts/108221732.html
http://www.kowloonside.com/movies/thelegendofzu.html
http://www.mhvf.net/forum/asian/posts/108221624.html
http://www.mhvf.net/forum/asian/posts/108221637.html
http://www.totallyhk.com/TimeOff/Ent...2104004704.asp
08-13-01 | 05:29 PM
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This comes as no surprise to me. Hark is at his best when he TELLS A STORY. When he goes nuts with CGI and FX, he loses his way and the fact that this ZU is getting hammered, well, I saw it coming.
08-14-01 | 02:52 PM
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Here's another pretty positive review. Sebastian is one of the most knowledgeable HK movie watchers there is, I think he's seen just about every HK movie that's ever been made...
http://www.mhvf.net/forum/asian/posts/108221769.html
http://www.mhvf.net/forum/asian/posts/108221769.html
08-16-01 | 04:48 PM
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More reviews, including Paul Fonoroff's:
http://www.totallyhk.com/TimeOff/Ent...6180850773.asp
http://www.cinemaonline.com.my/movie....asp?search=zu
http://www.totallyhk.com/TimeOff/Ent...6180850773.asp
http://www.cinemaonline.com.my/movie....asp?search=zu
