[QUOTE=Zenshiite;1183780]They are based on the same source.[/QUOTE]
yea i figured that out once i saw all the characters names.
The Four Constables is a great comic. So I’ll keep my eyes out for this movie.
Props to HH for the first KFM review.
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.
The Four vs. Painted Skin 2
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.
Coming to the USA from Well Go USA
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.
Our latest sweepstakes!
Enter to win THE FOUR on DVD! Contest ends 6:00 p.m. PST on 04/04/2013. Good luck everyone!
THE FOUR sponsors KFM this week!
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!
WellGo USA releases some clips
article on well go as the new leading distributor on asian cinema in america? would be a interesting one indeed.
Our winners are announced
See our The Four DVD winners thread.