The Four

[GeneChing]

Not so awesome foursome
Global Times | 2012-7-30 19:45:03
By Zhang Zihan


Hong Kong actor Ronald Cheng stars as Life Snatcher in kung fu epic The Four. Photo: CFP

Who has the ability to read minds and gets around in an electric wheelchair powered by incomparable intellect? No, it isn't Professor Xavier from X-Men or even physicist Stephen Hawking. Introducing Emotionless, China's newest young heroine with telepathic powers played by Crystal Liu in Hong Kong director Gordon Chan latest kung fu epic The Four.

The film is based on wuxia literature master Wen Rui'an's novel of the same name, which tells the story of a crime-fighting quartet. The 125-minute film's courageous attempt to revive the ailing genre of kung fu films in China has earned it a successful albeit controversial reputation at the box office since its release on July 9.

The Four has so far raked in 150 million yuan ($23.5 million), leapfrogging domestic blockbuster Painted Skin: The Resurrection for top spot last week. But not all viewers of the film have given it the thumbs up, hinting at growing fatigue among Chinese audiences for kung fu productions.

Figures from douban.com's movie database show only 8 percent of more than 22,300 viewers gave it four or more out of a possible five stars, while over 55 percent gave it two stars or less. Statistics from database mtime.com aren't much more flattering, with the median rating from nearly 5,000 viewers just 5.3 out of 10.

Most critics lambasted heroes of The Four, which also stars Anthony Wong, Deng Chao, Ronald Cheng and Collin Chou, for being too similar to those in Marvel Comics' X-Men. While Emotionless is portrayed as being much stronger than Professor X, she shares Magneto's skills of being able to move items using telekinetic powers.

Fellow crime fighter, Iron Fist, has the ability to design and make machines powered by electricity generated from his hands - seemingly a fusion between Storm from X-Men and Tony Stark, the engineer alter ego of Iron Man.

While Chan seems strongly influenced by comic book superheroes, he's also enlisted other fantasy villains including werewolves and zombies. One attribute Chan appears to have overlooked, however, is the fact Chinese audiences are paying to see a fresh, exciting movie, not a poor imitation with Chinese characteristics of X-Men (2000), Van Helsing (2004) or Resident Evil (2002) garnished with kung fu.

Chan appears to have selectively chosen some of the decades-old traits of Chinese kung fu cinema in an attempt to navigate a new, uncharted direction. While a daring move, it's not one that pays off. Quite simply put, there's no room an electric wheelchair in a movie supposedly set in the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644).

Chan fails to explain the principles of his bold, new world, which is where he loses the confidence of his audience. Hollywood has already cemented its own parameters that define superheroes, including the values they stand for.

Western audiences are familiar with them, just as Chinese fans are familiar with traditional kung fu films.

The Four aims to find middle ground between the two, but only succeeds in falling flat on a cinematic no man's land.

Betraying the classic virtues of Chinese kung fu cinema is the arguably greatest threat facing the genre. Perhaps the most infamous example of this can be found in director Tsui Hark's box office flop The Legend of Zu (2001), which drew criticism from kung fu purists disillusioned at computer-generated scenes of flying, sword-wielding martial artists.

A more recent example is Alan Mak's The Lost Bladesman (2011), which told the well-known story of Guan Yu, the famous general who lived during in Three Kingdoms period (220-280).

In Chinese culture, Guan is revered for his unfailing honesty and loyalty to warlord Liu Bei. However, Mak's film sees Guan fall in love with Liu's wife, an affair that didn't go down well with many Chinese moviegoers.

Do you think this critic actually saw the film or did he just watch the trailer and write around other reviews?

[SimonM]

Quite simply put, there's no room an electric wheelchair in a movie supposedly set in the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644).

Guess this reviewer hasn't heard of Steampunk.

[doug maverick]

This reviewer is an unresearched bafoon. Had he done a little research or actuallu saw the film he would have known that it is based on a comic book but not a marvel film, its based on a comic called "the four constables" I called it when I saw the trailer and even the character names are the same. The actual comic isn't supernatural in nature thou. It has a pretty cool storyline. More akin to a mystery then supernatural.

[Hebrew Hammer]

I just saw this, my impressions were that it was a very visually appealing movie, the sets, the costumes, the special effects, Crystal Liu...fight scenes were well done and entertaining. There just wasn't enough action for my liking, lots of typical Chinese intrigues, which is fine but they should have added more action sequences. A lot plot energy was focused around a supposed love triangle between Crystal Liu, a rival female martial artist Jiang Yiyan, and a lone wolf constable, Leng Lingqi.

I never got any really sense of chemistry, romance between the three of them other than some catty looks between the ladies. I thought it would have been bold of them to include a love scene with physically challenged, yet beautiful 'Emotionless' (Crystal) but it never surfaced. She was true to her character's name.

And perhaps that was my biggest gripe about this film, it lacked passion. Most of the characters seemed 'emotionless' to me, very dead panned performances. Nobody to truly attach yourself to, someone to root for or against. Lots of potential, I enjoyed the psychic powers aspect and supernatural undead story lines, perhaps if they make a sequel we'll get more for our buck.

[Zenshiite]

Originally Posted by doug maverick

this reminds me of the andy seto comic book, the four constables...which was a really badass, kung fu comic book series about four constables(the leader being a cripple who was master of projectiles) it was short lived...but really freaking good.

They are based on the same source.

[doug maverick]

Originally Posted by Zenshiite

They are based on the same source.

yea i figured that out once i saw all the characters names.

[Zenshiite]

The Four Constables is a great comic. So I'll keep my eyes out for this movie.

[GeneChing]

I actually started watching this a little while ago but forgot to review it. I started this before the Olympics and finished it somewhere before they ended, so I only saw it in chunks which isn't always the best way to view effect-laden films. I feel like McKayla Maroney, falling on her butt and settling for the silver.

The Four reunites Colin Chou with Chinese starlet, Crystal Liu Yifei from Forbidden Kingdom, and adds the great HK veteran Anthony Wong. It's a wuxia flick with a Shanghai Steampunk leaning. Okay, in all honesty, wuxia is basically Chinese comic books, and The Four has been unfairly compared to Avengers because it's a band of heroes with superpowers and issues. The special effects are decent. There's some nice fight scenes with fireballs and swords and a lot of flying about. It was entertaining, like a comic book film in that park-your-brain-outside way. Crystal is really good in this. She plays this wheelchair-bound psychic/telekinetic, although her powers are never clearly defined as she can fight on crutches, see hidden intentions and Jedi objects like projectiles, including crazy-shaped shuriken flung at her by the dozen. Plus she has this weird steampunk wheelchair that can make her stand up as if on a dolly and mounts in this huge arm so she can reach all over this massive wall file of scrolls. The film had a lot of style with long panning shots and some cool imagery. Not a mind blowing flick, but an interesting example of the direction kung fu flicks are going now. I like fights with fireballs and swords.

[SimonM]

Watched the Four tonight, Painted Skin 2 last night. Hands down, the Four is a far superior movie on all levels.

Painted Skin 2 was a hollow movie with one-dimensional characters, bad special effects and no tension. Characters were introduced without fanfare and occasionally vanished without notice - by the end of the movie my wife and I still couldn't figure out what happened to the evil (Russian?) wolf queen. Was she dispatched by the protagonist while we weren't looking? Did she just leave?

And, considering the ultimate resolution of the love triangle, why was it necessary for general dummypants to cut his eyes out? When he symbolically whipped his blindfold off at the end was it supposed to be poignant?

All in all it was nothing but a shiny mess of cgi frippery.

The Four, on the other hand was an entertaining movie - an almost steampunk take on Wuxia with a cast of characters who actually had personalities and motivations. Some elements of the end seemed to have been suffering from sloppy editing - I think as a half-hearted set-up for a near-inevitable sequel but it was better acted, better choriographed, much better scripted and all around better.

If you're going to watch a Chollywood fantasy for the next little while choose the Four over Painted Skin 2 every time.

[GeneChing]

Well Go USA has sponsored our forum recently with topmost banner ad campaigns for Muay Thai Warrior and Bangkok Revenge. They are the leading distributor of Asian film now, via DVD/BRD and netflix.

THE FOUR Trailer

[GeneChing]

Enter to win THE FOUR on DVD! Contest ends 6:00 p.m. PST on 04/04/2013. Good luck everyone!

[GeneChing]

THE FOUR has bought out our topmost banner and is sponsoring our forum this week. Be sure to click-thru the banner for good measure!

[GeneChing]

Enjoy Your Meal

[doug maverick]

article on well go as the new leading distributor on asian cinema in america? would be a interesting one indeed.

[GeneChing]

See our The Four DVD winners thread.