Reign Of Assassins 2010

[xiaolong]

I thought it pretentious and very much following in the shadows of Crouching Tiger. In other words, it's a clone. Detective Dee is better and original.

Detective Dee and this movie are two very different kinds of movies. Detective Dee is like a whodunit Sherlock Holmes kinda movie where martial arts is secondary - solving of a crime and palace politics are more in the foreground. Reign of Assassins is pure wuxia, classic wuxia

[Cesare]

A pretentious CTHD clone?
Meh. I very strongly disagree. The films have some things in common - and they are GOOD things, like Michelle Yeoh and focus on characters - but clones?
Jianyu is much more of a genre film. And as xiaolong points out, in many respects it resembles genre classics.
CTHD was not a pure genre film, nor was it trying to be (and unfortunately for CTHD, lots of folks just didn't get it).

But I liked Detective Dee a lot, too. Probably more than Jianyu. Dee is not necessarilly a better film but somehow more endearing. Tsui Hark has that gift of making flawed but very charming flicks.

[LuNaR]

I thought it pretentious and very much following in the shadows of Crouching Tiger. In other words, it's a clone. Detective Dee is better and original.

eh it felt like mr and mrs smith more than crouching tiger hidden dragon

[Linda]

I finally got around to watching this and I must say...I am unsure if I liked it or not.

I did find the first 20mins of setup very boring, and was majorly annoyed with the ending but I did like the Barbie Xu character even though she was obviously not as young as she's suppose to be...but I'll take her to Ling Chi Lin any day...that chick ruined Red Cliff for me.

what annoyed me the most about this show is how they built up the character's, i was expecting a lot more development and more intriguing plots and character's but we had very few selections.

the fight scene really was very short and too wire-fu. where is Sammo Hung when you need him!

Please don't mention CTHD...that film killed the hard boiled kung fu era...or they did was push wind...and not even in a comedic way.

[shellie]

i just saw this and while i think it could've been a bit more grounded, i definitely enjoyed it more than CTHD. i thought some of the wire-fu's were a bit too obvious with some joltings.

overall though, i think it's a decent wuxia and quite enjoyable. barbie's great in here with her almost seemingly detached look. JWS is quite a cutie... i did wish he had a lot more fighting scenes and another grand match between michelle and barbie would've been even better.

[belki]

Just watched this. I must say, the movie gave just enough background stories of the characters, it didn't drag too much (in the exception of Michelle/Kelly's that 'needed' the 20 mins setup). And in terms of wuxia genre, I'd love if the fighting scenes were a tad bit longer. But I really really enjoyed it, the main 2 leads were pretty much in depth with the characters, and the gradual emotions between the two were acceptably portrayed. I expected a more dramatic ending, but it was fair enough.

As much as I love Michelle, Barbie was the one whom I felt stole the show. Just my two cents.

[Cesare]

I don't really get all that Barbie Hsu praising. She was OK, but not anywhere near stealing the show, IMHO. And her character was extremely annoying - which wasn't her fault, though. I am just bored to death with this "psychotic *****" type. It's been done over and over and over and over and I find that type of character almost impossible to relate to.

[xiaolong]

Well, I thought Barbie looked really gorgeous in the movie. I guess there's something about psycho nymphonias that is alluring to the audience.

[LuNaR]

barbie reminded me of a young zhang ziyi tbh tho (not trying to make cthd connections here since its totally different, but just saying)

[Cesare]

Well, I thought Barbie looked really gorgeous in the movie. I guess there's something about psycho nymphonias that is alluring to the audience.

Weeeell, maybe it IS all about me not finding her particularly attractive...:-]
(She is very pretty but she's not my kind of pretty.)
That - and I was too busy liking the Magician to pay any serious attention to other supporting villains...:-) (Lei Bin was a great - and relatable - character, but Magician was the funkiest of the whole lot.)

[xiaolong]

Ah-Sheng (the husband) is my favourite character, especially when he coolly sharpens his Cen-Ci swords and reveals his AWESOME kick-*** martial arts to Turquoise and Magician. Love the shock on Turquoise's face!

But Jung Woo-Sung looks a bit young next to Michelle Yeoh too. I guess these few years will probably the last time she can act as an attractive wuxia heroine.

I think Kelly Lin showed a lot of promise too.

[belki]

Weeeell, maybe it IS all about me not finding her particularly attractive...:-]
(She is very pretty but she's not my kind of pretty.)
That - and I was too busy liking the Magician to pay any serious attention to other supporting villains...:-) (Lei Bin was a great - and relatable - character, but Magician was the funkiest of the whole lot.)

I gotta agree with you on this. I almost forgot the Magician, he was absolutely lovable to watch. How shall I put it? Kinda robust, I guess?!

[Dragon Heiress]

I just watched this last night.
I've never taken Barbie seriously before, but she was actually really good here. She looked amazing too. All the actors did great and the plot was well-paced.
I did feel there was too much in-your-face foreshadowing, though. They kept giving us so many hints about Ah-Sheng. And when a guy talks to his wife about their future, you know they won't have one.

[Cesare]

I gotta agree with you on this. I almost forgot the Magician, he was absolutely lovable to watch. How shall I put it? Kinda robust, I guess?!

There was a kind of "straight out of a brief passage in the 3rd chapter of a Gu Long story" vibe to him...:-)

[belki]

There was a kind of "straight out of a brief passage in the 3rd chapter of a Gu Long story" vibe to him...:-)

Exactly. I couldn't have described it better than this.

[MrIllusion]

I like the scene of the 3 assassins in the kitchen just after their Mexican standoff.

Each one has their own problems but they don't go all emo on each other. It was just another job for them and their personal feelings were irrelevant. Then there is the nice contrast with how Barbie's character was just being a prick and trying to antagonize Drizzle. I thought it showed how the 3 were really professionals and not just killers with flashy moves.

[Ian Liew]

But Jung Woo-Sung looks a bit young next to Michelle Yeoh too. I guess these few years will probably the last time she can act as an attractive wuxia heroine.

lol.. I felt the same way. When the scene shifted to the current time after the background, it had a "10 years later" feel to it, and when Jung was staring at Michelle arranging those clothes I could not believe it. Michelle is talented, but at her age really shouldn't be taking this sort of "attractive girl" roles anymore. She's not bad-looking by any means, but not quite the sort of person who'd generate the kind of attention which Woo-Sung was giving.

[kidd]

I don't have problem with the Michelle Yeoh/Jung Woo-Sung pairing. I find them to have great chemistry. Maybe the fact that I didn't know who JWS was and this was the first time I saw him act helps. Only after watching FOA and doing a google on him I found out he's 10 years younger.

when Jung was staring at Michelle arranging those clothes I could not believe it. Michelle is talented, but at her age really shouldn't be taking this sort of "attractive girl" roles anymore. She's not bad-looking by any means, but not quite the sort of person who'd generate the kind of attention which Woo-Sung was giving.

Maybe Ah Sheng has a thing for 'yin chai leung mou' and not sweet young thing.

[charbydis]

I thought they looked good together. Not cute but warm and cozy as a couple. I didn't notice the age difference because the story was so good. I like twists to the end and love the ending. Love that epic line "I am willing to become a stone bridge and endure 500 years of wind and rain."

[patricia n]

just wondering how gory this movie is...and how gory is detective dee?