The Sorcerer and the White Snake (白蛇傳說之法海)
Cast
Jet Li
Eva Huang
Raymond Lam
Charlene Choi
Chapman To
Wen Zhang
Jiang Wu
Vivian Hsu
Sonija Kwok
Lam Suet
Miriam Yeung
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Hello,have anyone here have watch this movie already?
Thanks.
I had just watched this with a few friends. Initial impressions:
Plot: Retelling of the Chinese classic, White Snake, with CGI and fighting scenes.
Plus:
1) Eva Huang, one of the prettiest Chinese actress plays a strong performance as the White Snake in search of her true love.
2) Charlene playing a acceptable Green Snake.
3) Great scenery and good use of CGI. Some might like the CGIs in the fight scenes.
4) Wonderful cameos by Miriam Yeung et al stole the scenes.
Minus:
1) Raymong Lam's performance is a bit wooden, imho.
2) Predictable plot, as was expected of a classic tale.
.
3) Prolonged fight scenes, in a mainly romantic movie.
It was as if the director-producers couldn't decide whether they are filming a romantic movie or an action movie, and decided to hedge their bets by including both.
Overall: Not too bad, maybe 3 out of 5.
Han Solo
Have not seen this movie. Raymond lam has lost his appeal to me, but eva looks great based on pix. The trailer to this movie can be found in her thread.
Trailer shows great visual scope (compared to any other version). CGI is 'platable'.
Er...Han Solo, Jet Li didn't deserve a mention? Was he that un-impressionable? Ah, but my fav Fa Hai was in Liu Tao's version of White Snake...sexy Fa Hai :D.
How on earth did they get 'Sorcerer' out of Fa Hai (I presume). A monk with near magical capabilities, but a Harry Potter he is not.
I watched this movie yesterday with 3 things in mind
1. I never liked this tale, not even when it was Joey Wong and Maggie Cheung playing lead characters.
2. I like Eva Huang, who is pretty, I like Raymond Lam, whom shall always be Wong Fu Siu Wah in my heart and I don't like Charlene Choi, who was one of the two reasons that ruined HK Cinema for me. She also ruined Butterfly Lover's along with Wu Chun.
3. Jet Li. Unsure it was positive or negative at this point. Never liked his 'acting' but liked his moves.
So when I pushed myself to watch this after a hard day a work I realised I could have been doing something better, like the laundry.
This movie was so boring, I went away every 10mins just to give my self some breathing time.
The best scene was the meet the parents scene with all the Cameo's. And yes, Miriam Yeung stole the show for me.
Eva Huang was bland, Raymond Wong was bland, Jet Li was given all the limelight, I remember this story and remember what type of character he was in the original folklore, I will not ruin this.
What I hated most about this movie was that I liked Charlene Choi's green snake, she was cute and entertaining in an otherwise boring film.
Just saw the movie, was not the most amazing movie but was not a terrible movie either. It's retell of a classic tale, they pretty much humanized Jet Li's character; in all previous incarnations of tv series or movies Fahai was a cold, determined and narrow-minded abbot. In this movie Fahai was much more humanized, open and able to accept things; which I think is a brand new take on the character.
obviously raymond and eva's character are what they are, because that's what they are in the novels, tv and any other form of media that we can expect. to reinvent the wheel we would really need some good BS writing or patching for that. They did their job and did it wonderfully (and by that I mean being the expected character). Charlene's character Qingqing is also a much more fun loving and less devious take on the character, as for nengren not completely sure tbh.
Overall writing isn't top notch, but isn't horrible either. The movie is worth buying for me and share the moments with that special someone.
You sound dejected :(Quote:
Originally Posted by Linda
The translation is less accurate, however it definitely peaks people's interest more than let's say The Abbot and the White snake or The Monk and the White Snake.Quote:
Originally Posted by NuDaFu
And Fahai is not meant to be a sexy character, he doesn't have sexual desires thus him being sexy would just be moot. (unless Shanghai Tangren decided to remake the tv series, which then I can see them doing that since it's been their m.o i every tv series).
The CGI is pretty spectacular in all of the Asian films so far.
hi omidus, I was dejected, since I was hoping to enjoy this film. I haven't seen a good movie in so long.
The change to Jet Li's Fahai would have been acceptable had it been someone else playing the character, I was hoping to see a more fierce Jet Li,
Humanizing Fahai also made it impossible to like our lead girl, because I feel for him and understand he is not the bad guy, I found white snake to be unbearably selfish.
The original story showed us that maybe, had Fahai left them alone and not go after them just because she was a snake spirit they could have survived on their own and no one would have died. It was due to his discrimination that cause the tragedy.
Hi omidus and Linda,
The only version I saw of this film was the one with Joey Wang and Maggie Cheung. In that version, I thought the character of Fahai was done very well. He viewed non-enlightened humans as primitive monsters, (likewise with spirits/demons) and was very arrogant of his own powers and spiritual superiority.
He quickly realized that he might be wrong in his absolute views, and repented by releasing a spider demon and not capturing the two snake spirits. It was only when he realized he was imperfect and had serious flaws (lust) that he could not overcome that he acted out and tried to destroy them out of sheer frustration, while masking it with hypocrisy.
It's a very accurate portrayal of human flaws in my opinion --namely being judgmental and of high moral ground when you can personally achieve it, but crumbling and lying to yourself when you realize all the things you've preached were only because it made you superior to those around you. I am a big fan of movies that explore this theme of it being easy to be heroic and moral when you are rich/powerful, but almost impossible to actually do when things are working against you.
I guess all this blabbering was just meant to say that this humanization of the Fahai character sounds like it'll leave me disappointed, but I'll definitely check the movie out when I get a chance!
To be pedantically definitive, it's not anywhere near accurate. I can understand the need for promoting interest, but total misdirection is not the way to go. People can pay thousands just for the right company logo, no less a movie title that's going to hit the media.Quote:
Originally Posted by omidus
I don't find anything relatable between Sorcerer and Fa Hai, maybe except for the almost magical quality of his fighting prowess. Could've done with:
"Buddhist Warrior and White Snake"
"Warrior Monk vs White Snake" (err...very Mortal Combaty)
"Snake Legend: The Monk's Journey" (as they were trying for a humanisation of Fa Hai)
I meant in looks hon ;). Sexy in looks and demeanour. Not in characterisation. Can't help that the Fa Hai in Liu Tao's White Snake was such eye candy :D.Quote:
And Fahai is not meant to be a sexy character, he doesn't have sexual desires thus him being sexy would just be moot.
The CGI is pretty spectacular in all of the Asian films so far.
Depends on how one defines "spectacular". I tend to be picky...not everything has appeared spectacular to me.
Which all boils down to Narcissism ;). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narcissism (features Caravaggio's painting of Narcissus...positively sublime artist).Quote:
Originally Posted by tape
Is the movie worth paying $20 for the DVD? I haven't seen it yet and am thinking of buying it as a Christmas present... The snakes in the trailer looked fake though. Hehe.
I will say "no". There are better movies in my opinion, like Detective Dee, Reign of the Assassins, Wuxia.Quote:
Originally Posted by Sakuya
I guess I have a different opinion from most of you here. I just rewatched this on a flight back from Zurich, and I thought Eva was pretty awesome. By herself, she's not that pretty (she's got a kinda horse face) and people have complained that she is where she is through connections (like LYF). But Eva's white snake Susu has great screen presence and because of that, it makes me feel she's the most beautiful thing around.
I'm surprised to read that Peter Ho, Ethan Ruan and Mark Chao also fought hard for the Xu Xian role which finally went to Raymond Lam. Xu Xian is such a helpless male damsel-in-distress! I totally cannot imagine why Peter was bidding for the role.
Movie was enjoyable and definitely worth watching. Jet Li was really cool, fight scenes were great, CGI were pretty good! Green snake was cute and I liked Fahai's disciple. The meeting the family part was funny. Eva Huang was pretty good as the white snake. Raymond was bland, but his character wasn't that interesting anyway.
The love story bored me a bit and I was hoping for more fight scenes instead LOL
Really? Peter Ho? I'm really surprised! Why would Peter Ho want the Xu Xian role? Even the more minor character, Fahai's disciple, was more interesting.Quote:
Originally Posted by xiaolong
YES! I really like Neng Ren (Fahai's disciple)! He's the most interesting male character here! It's also when he rescued his fellow monks from the floods while in his bat demon self, that Fahai realizes he could have made a mistake about Susu/White Snake. I was kinda hoping this would make Fahai NOT trap Susu/White Snake inside Leifeng Pagoda, but it would be against the original legend. So sad...poor Susu.Quote:
Originally Posted by anonin
I really can't imagine Peter wanting to be Xu Xian. Such a waste of his muscles to be this helpless simpering easily-duped (male) damsel. Raymond Lam's not hot (to me) but he did suit the role. I was thinking if Hu Ge wants so much to play bookish scholarly types (like Meng Jiu in Da Mo Yao), he would have been a perfect Xu Xian - he has the looks that can ensnare a White Snake at first sight, heheh! All the character needs is to look good and look helpless, LOL.
Some popular operas have made pretty nice modifications to the sad ending of the White Snake legend:
1. Redemption of Madam White Snake:
After White Snake is trapped in the Leifeng Pagoda, Green Snake escapes and leaves to train and increase her power. She returns later and defeats Fahai, releasing White Snake. Fahai retreats to the stomach of a crab. A saying that a crab's internal fat is orange because it resembles the colour of Fahai's kasaya.
2. Redemption of Madam White Snake (alternative version)
White Snake gives birth to Xu Xian's son before she is trapped. Green Snake brings the baby to Xu Xian's relatives, who raise him. The boy grows up to become the top scholar in the imperial examination. He returns to Leifeng Pagoda to pay his respects and White Snake is released and reunited with Xu Xian because of her son's filial piety.
YAY a fellow Neng Ren fan! :D I REALLY liked Neng Ren, especially how he befriends Green Snake and then deals with turning into a bat demon. I loved how he saved all the drowning monks and made his master Fahai realize that there are good demons too. The way Fahai says that the demon look suits him and then chucks him an apple is really sweet too. :)Quote:
Originally Posted by xiaolong
So true about wasting Peter's muscles! He should be acting as strong generals like Lu Bu and Xiang Yu, not helpless Xu Xian! Hu Ge's acting skills would be wasted as Xu Xian, since there wasn't much to his character in the script anyway.
Yep my mom told me the 2 alternate endings to the White Snake legend. I didn't know the legend and felt that the ending was way too sad and so mom told me about the opera versions of the story too. I was so happy to hear both versions and I think both are great, but I like version 2 with the son better, happy family reunions and all. :)
I just had to transfer this over from BBJX thread. I didn't realize the first time round that Han Dong had a bit role, LOL. Just like I didn't recognize Liu Yuxin was the Rouran princess in Mulan when she was announced in the BBJX cast line-up.
So dear Han Dong got to kiss Raymond Lam! Hahaha!
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Yeah, I prefer the second alternate ending. Marriage based on true love should be a blessed union no one can separate, and they deserve to be reunited. I've always disliked Fahai in other versions, but I kinda like him here when he developed this bond with bat demon Neng Ren in the end. You get the feeling he is starting to accept the fact that not all demons will harm humans, like Neng Ren. Yes! Neng Ren changed him! Even though the movie ended with poor Susu trapped in Leifeng temple, that beautiful ending touch of Fahai and Neng Ren walking out to the horizon leaves a lot of optimism for an eventual better ending. You get the feeling Fahai will change his mindset after hanging around enough with Neng Ren and there's a possibility that Susu will be freed eventually.
Here's the article which reported that Raymond Lam, Peter Ho, Mark Chao and Ethan Ruan fervently auditioned for the bland Xu Xian role, and it was Raymond who finally clinched the role.
I mean, Xu Xian?!! C'mon guys, give me a break! Xu Xian in all adaptations of White Snake is a bland helpless nerd and this is no exception. I know this version tried to make him do something by stealing the spirit herb, but somehow, I don't think it took much effort on his part at all.
http://entertainment.xin.msn.com/en/...mentid=4322433
Raymond Lam to collaborate with Jet Li
Hong Kong star clinch role in new film
It was a battle of the stars as leading men Ethan Ruan, Peter Ho, Mark Chao and Raymond Lam fought it out for the lead role in Madam White Snake.
All were vying to act in acclaimed Chinese director Chen Xiadong's latest production.
In the end, it was the TVB leading male artiste that emerged triumphant.
It was reported that Ethan and Mark were dropped as they were deemed to be not well-known enough in China.
On the other hand, Peter Ho's image did not suit the male lead. Hence, it ultimately boiled down to Raymond, whose looks are perfect for the role.
Slated to act alongside action film star Jet Li in the HKD 200m (SGD 40m) production, Raymond would be portraying the role of Xu Xianyi.
Filming for Madame White Snake commenced last Friday. Other cast members include Chinese actress Huang Shengyi and pop idol Charlene Choi.
When approached for a confirmation on Raymond's role, director Chen said, "I've signed a non-disclosure agreement, so I can't tell you anything temporarily. It's best that you ask the movie company instead!"
Raymond's employers TVB also refused to confirm the report. Said TVB's resource executive, Le Yiling, "Nothing's confirmed yet. Raymond has other projects under discussion. Just wait longer and you'll find out."
Meanwhile, the star, who was hospitalised for a neck injury days earlier, had returned to work, filming for his new television drama Colorful World of Sister Fa, alongside actress Charmaine Seah.
"I'll have to hang in there even if my body can't take it (the workload), I don't want to affect the crew or waste time. My schedule's already packed till lunar new year next year," he sighed.
Oh lol, that article. Although I don't think any of them auditioned for Xu Xian just because they liked the role, or sees the role as a challenge-these sentences often appear in interviews. :p
I actually really liked this movie (the themesong was also a big plus). I'm with anonin and xiaolong here-I thought too, that Neng Ren was the most interesting male character! Thankfully, the director kept the original feel of the legend, and separated XuXian and White Snake (Susu in this case).
Fa Hai really is quite likeable in this movie, especially during the end of the movie.
Peter Ho is probably too muscly for Xu Xian hahaha :laugh:
OMG I totally didn't notice it was Han Dong until you showed me just now! I went back and rewatched that bit and whoa what a surprise hahaha :laugh:
Neng Ren is awesome and brought out a more human side of Fahai which is great to see. This movie's Fahai is pretty cool and I liked him. And it's Jet Li :D
The music in this movie is beautiful! :inlove:
This legend is a great story and I think this movie did a pretty good job of adapting it. Very nice :)