Dragon Tiger Gate

Donnie Yen - Dragon Wong
Nicholas Tse - Tiger Wong
Shawn Yue - Turbo Shek
Dong Jie - Ma Xiaoling
Li Xiao-ran - Lousha
Yuen Wah - Wang Xiang Long
Louis Koo - Shimubi (voice-over)

Directed by: Wilson Yip
Fight Choreography: Donnie Yen
Based on the comic (manhua) Oriental Heroes
Courtesy of Wikipedia.com

Plot:
Dragon Tiger Gate (aka the Gate) is basically about Dragon, Tiger, and Turbo.

Dragon Wong and his mom (Sheren Tsang) left the Gate years ago, but when his mom died, Dragon joined the Ma Kwun gang. He did many sinful deeds for Ma Kwun and so he doesn't want to go back to the Gate when Tiger asked him to come back. His love interest is Lousha from the Lousha gang. They couldn't be together because a) Dragon doesn't want to be with her for some reason and b) Lousha gang members and Ma Kwun's gang members don't go out, even if they are trading partners.

Tiger Wong is one of the older students of the Gate. He is very righteous. When he found out that Dragon was his long lost brother, he wanted Dragon to come back to the Gate and he didn't give up on Dragon when he refused to. He liked Ma Xiaoling, Ma Kwun's daughter. They don't have any obstacles in their relationship but because of all the drama, they couldn't be together until the end.

Turbo Shek grew up in the States. His specialty is nunchaku, but in truth, he sucks. But he didn't realize that until he came to the Gate to be a student there. He realized all his bragging and showing off was stupid because the Gate's teacher, Wang Xiang Long, beat him up for being arrogant. Since then Turbo decided to stay at the Gate to learn real nunchaku and he was approved by Xiang Long.

The three guys basically have their own obstacles to solve. They became friends, although Tiger and Dragon were brothers already. The big obstacle that they faced together was Shimubi, the Lousha gang leader. Ma Kwun decided to retire and Shimubi was pissed off at that since the two gangs have worked together on their trading businesses. Shimubi decided to kill Ma Kwun and those around him, including Dragon and Xiaoling. He was unable to kill the two young ones and Xiaoling was taken to the Gate while Dragon to heal from his injuries and rethink his life . Shimubi came to the gate and killed Xiang Long for no reason and so Tiger and Turbo got involved in bringing him down. Dragon joined them in the big fight and together they beat Shimubi. Then they lived happily ever after guarding the Gate together.

Performance:
Donnie Yen - Dragon Wong: It's weird seeing Donnie Yen being all wannabe young and tough. The way he walks is funny. It looks like he's trying too hard to be all hardcore. Other than that, he did a fine job as Dragon. The choreography was great and Donnie was excellent in all the fight scenes, even though a lot of computer work was added to the movie.

Nicholas Tse - Tiger Wong: Nicholas Tse did a good job as Tiger Wong. I never read about the character but I can see from Nicholas's performance what type of guy he is. Tiger is righteous and Nicholas did a good job at not being all fake about being charitable. He actually looked modest. He did a good job on the fight scenes. I think he and Shawn spent months learning and perfecting the choreography for this movie. They worked hard on the moves and it shows.

Shawn Yue - Turbo Shek: Shawn did a good job at being Turbo. Again, I don't know about the character much, but he was obviously an arrogant guy. Shawn's best scene was when he was telling Xiang Long that he changed his ways and that he won't be arrogant anymore. It was very touching, and it's not even that corny. There was sincerity written all over his face.

I don't know the actor's name, but the kid who played young Dragon was good too. He did a good job for at such an age. Usually, the little kid actors show hesitation in their performance, but I didn't see any hesitation in this guy. And the little boy who was young Tiger was very cute. The two of them look a lot like Nicholas and Donnie.

Plot Analysis:
Honestly, the plot was very weak and corny. Not to mention lame and predictable. It's so obvious. Three guys have this bond and they fight together to beat the big bad guy. It's like the three little pigs and the wolf. The love story between Dragon and Lousha was stupid too. She died. That was totally stupid. I don't get why Dragon was continuously refusing her anyway. I don't get why Shimubi decide to attack the people of the Gate either. I'm guessing Lousha said something to him about the people at the Gate were the ones that screwed up his plans. I don't get why Shimubi decided to kill Lousha too. It doesn't really make the story more interesting. It was totally pointless. Not romantic at all. And what's with having Dragon floating in the water while he was healing. I know he must've gotten an epiphany, but what's with making the floor he was laying on break away fluidly and letting him float. That part was pointless too.

The brotherhood thing was very corny. And even if Nicholas did a good job playing a righteous guy, there is no way in hell there is actually a person that good. This fictional character is too fictional. Very impossible.

One thing I do like is the romance with Tiger and Xiaoling. The way they met was really sweet. I like how Xiaoling dragged Tiger's and Turbo's unconscious bodies to that temple so they can be saved. And that whole prayer beads thing was very confusing but a good addition to the movie. It seems like the two females are off saving the three guys' butts. Lousha saved Dragon when he was injured and Xiaoling saved Tiger and Turbo.

Costumes:
The clothes were okay. Kind of too young for those older guys....if you know what I mean. Hate the hair too, especially Shawn's - it looked like a girl's. I like Xiao-ran's outfits though. Not the type of clothes I would wear but it has a nice style. And Dong Jie's outfits were very nice also. It makes her look innocent, which is what her character is all about. I also like how Tiger's symbol is a star and Dragon is a thunder bolt. Those symbols are always on their clothes, even the kid version of Tiger and Dragon had it on their shirts.

Setting:
Not much to say about the setting. It's just in modern day China. The Lousha's gang place was confusing though. In the end, Dragon kicked Shimubi down and they were knocked down several levels. I was like, what kind of place is that. Every time the floor breaks, they went to another story of the building. Where did all that come from? It looks like a video game. The whole time I was wondering which part of the building everyone was and how they got there.

Choreography:
The fighting was really cool. I like the nunchaku stuff. I just wished that there weren't so much CGI added to the movie. It was so obvious.

Conclusion:
The movie was okay. Not exactly good but not all that bad. There are a lot of flaws in it and the producers used too much CGI. The plot was horrible but there were some good parts here and there. I would recommend watching it as something to pass the time but I wouldn't recommend buying it. It's not worth the money.