The Legend of the Black Scorpion
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Movie Reviews of The Legend of the Black Scorpion
Movie Review: Beautiful costumes. Artistic fighting scenes. Good acting of the main female actor. Confusing plot and ending.
Summary: 3 Stars
The costumes are beautiful. The fighting scenes are artistic and attractive. The acting of the main female actor is convincing. However the plot and ending are confusing. The ending does not make sense.
It's still worth watching once. I prefer House of Flying Daggers.
Movie Review: It tried to be more...
Summary: 3 Stars
My husband ordered this DVD so I had no expectations on quality or any knowledge of the story. It didn't take me long to figure out it was based on Shakespeare's "Hamlet." Unfortunately, it didn't do justice to that classic, tragic story.
This film is a good example of what has almost become a genre - films that attempt to duplicate the success of "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon." We've bought and seen "Hero," "House of Flying Daggers," and "Curse of the Golden Flower." They all have the near-flying martial arts, expertly choreographed fights and gorgeous costumes. We enjoyed them all, but where these films fall short, including Black Scorpion, is the stories lack the magic of CTHD. That tale of unattainable love, wrapped in a mystery was original, with superb acting and a new take on action. This one would have been better served to follow Hamlet more closely as the changes they made did NOT improve the story. They slowed the movie down, or caused confusion. And the movie was very slowly paced to begin with.
The story is focused on the empress' point of view, rather than the prince as in Hamlet. That works just fine, as Ziyi Zhang is captivating in the role. She gives life to what could have been an awful movie rather than just a disappointing one. The old emperor dies from a Scorpion bite and his brother usurps the throne from the prince and steals the empress, who had already been stolen from the crown prince by the last emperor. Familiar characters appear, from Polonius, to Ophelia (who is the best represented character in the film) to Laertes and the royal family. We have the mousetrap play, wherein the prince does indeed catch the conscience of a king and the kill all the lawyers ending. Except, the ending has a distracting and confusing change that leaves the viewer hanging - literally. I won't spoil it, but one of the main characters dies after the climactic confrontation, but who does the deed is never revealed and is all the more confusing since everybody who is anybody has already died or been exiled!
As to this edition, the DVD does have a dubbed track available and is very well done. After 15 minutes, I forgot it was being dubbed. Though it is a two disc edition, there is nothing spectacular in the extras. The making of featurette is perhaps the most interesting, but there are also two translated interviews and a behind the scenes bit. There is no extra footage, or featurettes on costumes, or better yet a piece on the historical time period.
Overall, if you enjoyed the other films you'll enjoy this one though likely not as much. If you've never read Hamlet, you'll like it even more. I recommend the single disc edition over paying so much for 2 discs, but some viewers will enjoy the extras. Cautiously recommended.
Movie Review: Banquet of Blood
Summary: 5 Stars
The Good Things:
*Actions scenes are pretty darn awesome. They are well-choreographed, have lots of slow-motion, and are quite bloody. Some of it even looks beautiful.
*Filming style is good. It has plenty of good camera angles, and has a lot of vivid imagery.
*Sets and costumes are very imaginatively designed.
*Music is interesting.
*Acting is good; characters are interesting, and it is easy to see how they correspond to Shakesphere's "Hamlet," from which the story is derrived.
*Even though this is an adaptation of "Hamlet," it is a very different and liberal one. The story and characters stands well on its own.
The Bad Things:
*A little slow at parts.
As with other great modern martial arts films (like "Hero," or "Shinobi"), this one has a very lavish, mesmerizing style and lots of impressive fight scenes. It is not quite Shakesphere, but it is definately artful martial arts. Even the bloody scenes are done with style; Stanley Kubrick would have been jealous. I would definately reccomend this to anybody who likes martial arts.
Movie Review: 4.7 / 5 Deserves an Audience for Sure
Summary: 5 Stars
I would have passed this up, but I ended watching it several times. I always grumbled to go to Shakespeare when I was little, but afterwards I always ended up throughly satisfied that such art could be produced and enjoyed. It is a variation on a theme but at the same time nothing seems out of place. China shows us its middle earth can be a pure setting for any well formed story. I can't say how historically accurate it was, and so perhaps some doubt there takes away from it being perfect, but this was cerainly of the most memorable art. I would hope it comes out in a higher definition format.Movie Review: 3 ½ stars: Beautifully shot and Artfully Presented...ultimately comes off a bit Cold. Geared towards an international audience.
Summary: 4 Stars
LEGEND OF THE BLACK SCORPION (a.k.a. The BANQUET) is the Chinese rendition of Shakespeare's "Hamlet". Directed by Mainland China's own acclaimed director Feng Xiaogang, joined with the lush cinematography by Tim Yip (Croaching Tiger Hidden Dragon) and the action choreography by Yuen Woo-Ping( Fearless); the film is set to bring Chinese Wuxia epic to new heights. Feng even acquired the services of one of China's most renowned international actresses; Zhang Ziyi.
The film was released in Asia in 2006( before "Curse of the Golden Flower"), set for the American market but for reasons unknown, "Curse of the Golden Flower" was marketed instead to U.S. shores.
Synopsis loosely derived from Media Asia DVD back cover:
The story is set in ancient China during the period of Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms. Against this backdrop of internal turmoil and external threat poised by the neighboring Khitan Empires, lives Empress Wan (Zhang Ziyi). As beautiful as she is limber, she harbors forbidden desires for her stepson Crown Prince Wu Luan (Daniel Wu). When the Emperor dies of reasons undetermined and his younger brother Li takes the throne, Wan marries Li to protect Wu Luan and seal her own position in the ruling body. But Li is not a fool and dispatches assassins that ultimately fail to kill Wu Luan. When Emperor Li proclaims a big banquet, Wu Luan and Wan realize it is time to strike.
The Banquet (I prefer to call it by its original title) is a beautiful film; elaborate costumes and set designs are the main draw of the film. Frankly, I liked this film's cinematography, atmosphere and set designs more than "Curse of the Golden Flower". The film simply looks astounding, the colors and way it is shot is truly amazing. However, beauty and cinematography can only carry a film so far. The expectations for "The Banquet" are extremely high, and while it does succeed as a high-quality spectacle that is a visual and aural feast; it fails to deliver on emotions and its characters. Even Yuen Woo-Ping's action direction feels a little hampered with the overused slow-motion approach undertaken by the director. Still, the film is better than most. It presents itself similar to a stage play (which is fine, it is "Hamlet") but I believe this style does hurt the film a little. The film is carefully and superbly arranged with characters well-mannered that even assassins conduct themselves politely even in the face of blood. The Banquet is more a period drama than a Wuxia film, in fact, I believe the film could have survived without any martial arts action.
Amazingly beautiful Zhang Ziyi struggles to carry the film. As good and beautiful the actress is, even Zhang cannot carry a film all by herself. Her portrayal of Empress Wan is actually the film's center; Zhang's character is in the middle of deception, lust and eventual betrayal. Thankfully, Zhang has the charisma to pull off an underdeveloped character such as Empress Wan. However, Zhang feels a bit unseasoned and too young (perhaps) for the role of the empress. Don't get me wrong, I think Zhang Ziyi is an awesome actress, but the role feels tailor-made for Chinese veteran actress Gong Li. Daniel Wu plays Wu Luan; a brooding, quiet and never shows his emotions in calculating vengeance. Wu plays an acceptable performance, after all, he does play "Hamlet" which was meant as a person with minor momentum, instead of displaying raw anger he imposes his wrath through indirect means. I guess it was a good move for the screenplay to emphasize Empress Wan's character than Wu Luan himself, I doubt Daniel Wu will be able to carry the film at all.
The performances are good for the most part. It's just that the characters seemed a bit underdeveloped that the lead characters will have some difficulty connecting with its audience. The film does take off strongly but it couldn't stay aloft. Supporting actress Zhao Xun (Ming Ming) has huge talent but her character of Quing is too simple and a bit one-dimensional. Ge You comes out with an outstanding performance as Emperor Li; his powerful portrayal is truly superb and note-worthy. Ultimately, while this film is loosely based on "Hamlet", the climax does occur in a banquet and this is a Chinese film where the old adage applies: No evil deed will go unpunished and repaid.
The Banquet is a very difficult film to judge. The film feels too mainstream for a Wuxia Epic drama and it seems geared towards international audiences and not to the people of Feng's native land. The film is definitely a part of the superficial, overindulgent popular Chinese film for viewers in the U.S. It is not a contemporary Wuxia film but rather one so polished for international acclaim (then again, I've read it was its intention). The lack of emotions and character depth never allows the film to surpass its gorgeous costumes and set designs. The film does succeed in the classic manipulations and plots of betrayal; but ultimately, the lasting impression is how beautifully shot and expensive the film is that it falls a bit short of epic grandeur. The film is better than most, it is better than Chen Kaige's "The Promise" but if you saw "HERO" and " HOUSE of FLYING DAGGERS"; the film just cannot surpass the coldness of its exterior.
RECOMMENDED [3 ½ stars]
Note: The Dragon Dynasty release (re-titled Legend of the Black Scorpion) will carry an English dubbed track.