Lesley R

Honestly I don't know a lot about modern kung fu movies but I have to say this movie was so so so so so bad and it completely surprises me that sites like IMDb, Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic actually gave this anywhere between 6.5/10 - 89% approval rating. I don't even know where to begin. The sets, although very beautiful, looked super fake and I could not at ALL think I was watching real people in a real situation. The trees looked fake - like at least add a little wind so they move a bit to make it realistic.Also, it was glaringly obvious that everything was a prop. the knives looked fake. the guns looked fake. So bad. And don't even get me started on the special effects makeup! When someone gets shot the wound bleeds. A bruise is more than just purple makeup. Maybe the artist was just out of school or they had no budget but um please keep trying. The acting oh dear god the acting. With the exception of Michelle Yeoh, Dave Bautista, and Liu Yan it was so fake. No emotions no real reactions just overacting. I felt like I was watching a study on bad acting. What not to do. You know what it reminded me of, those old school movies shot on a stage where it was like a play that was filmed to make a movie. While the nostalgia factor with those is amazing and makes it worth while, this had none of that. The lead actor, Zhang Jin was ok but I didn't like his wooden character though I am pretty sure it was a choice. The fight scenes. The fight scenes in a king fu movie are supposed to be amazing and while there was some pretty amazing choreography, I was sidetracked by the constant use of a harness and string. It was edited out properly, that's not the issue, but the style was just so bad. It did not look like anyone was actually performing these feats. They were clearly being manipulated and it made it boring. The most exciting scene was between Zang Jin and Michelle Yeoh and involved a glass of whiskey. That choreography looked super cool and real. The story was pretty predictable and boring. Honestly, I couldn't even watch the whole movie. Just so bad. If you liked it, I'm happy for you but I will be staying clear of anything like this in the future. I give this movie a 2/10 because that glass scene was cool and the colors were really nice and everything else sucked.