Dragon Tiger Gate [DVD]

If you like fast paced Kung Fu movies where the fights are fast and furious, you will love this.

I like films where you can see most of the fight action, and prefer sparing use of wires. This film does not disappoint. The big fights at the end are so exciting and really well shot.

Nothing interferes with the storytelling, flashbacks and fights move the story forward without feeling tacked on or clunky, the acting is great and there are a few chucklesome moments as well.

All in all, I loved this film.

Dragon Tiger Gate is, in my opinion, a slick and very enjoyable martial arts film that may not be for everyone, including many kung fu fans.

Based on a comic book of the same name, DTG is one of those movies where maximum enjoyment comes from disconnecting your brain and enjoying the slick, comic book style presentation and the stunning fight scenes. Like many comic adaptations, the story does leave something to be desired, which is probably the result of trying to squeeze hundreds of issues into one 90 minute feel. However, the storyline is coherent and follow-able in a very Bruce Lee good-guy-seeks-revenge-kicks-bad-guy-ass type of way. What this movie does do, and does it exceedingly well, is capture a rich and very stylish comic book feel and translate it well into a like action, high kicking setting. The sets look fantastic with very colourful lighting effects, and even the camp wardrobe seems strangly in place. What I liked most about the film is that, in my opinion, there's a great combination of cgi effects with some real bone crunching martial arts action, courtesy of fight coreography by the very talented Mr. Yen. What i mean is, for the most part, the fighting is rather crediable and quasi-realistic with some cgi and minimal wire work as icing to the cake rather then the main focus (ala house of flying daggers). And the action is rather stunning, with great use of dynamic lighting and camera work. My two favourite parts are a vicious scrap in a Sushi restraunt (which features some brilliant top down camera work) and a battle in a baseball park and night with creepy spotliight effects and dust flying everywhere to create a very dramatic and tense scene.

What really tops it all off is the physical performances of the main characters. As on would expect, Donnie Yen is breathtaking when he throws down, and in this film gives another showcase of why he is probably the top Kung Fu guy in Hong Kong these days. While not his best film (that would be Ip Man) his combination of power, precision and grace in the fight scenes is world class. I was also very impressed with Shawn Yue and his insane nack for ripping up with the nunchaku. He's not even a martial arts regular, yet he swings em like he was born with one surgically attached to each hand. Again, much of the credit goes to Yen, who trained him and direced the fight scenes, but Yue gets two thumbs up as well.

Now, as I pointed out earlier this isn't going to float everyone's boat. The film very successfully captures the comic book feel of the source material, which some will love and some will hate. although I'm not a big fan of comics, I do like a lot of movies based on them (Watchmen, Blade, Crows Zero, Batman Begins etc) so I really loved the preentation and got into the vivid colours and camp wardrobe of the film. However, if you're more partial to films like Fist of Legend or House of Flying Daggers this might not be up your street and i'd probably direct you to Fearless, Ong Bak, SPL or Ip Man. That said, who likes comic books and martial arts films with a bit of cgi will hopefully enjoy this nearly as much as i did.

The first few fights in this are really spectacular and this what i think makes this film fail. All the big climactic action is at the start and the actual end battles just dont reach the bar that has been set or top it either. the mid section is just plain old DULL!! With soap style melodrama and endless lovey dovey sentiment that goes nowhere and makes the impenetrable plot feel like slow torture. Donnie yen looks ridiculous with his teen hairdo and leaves most of the kick ass stuff to others. what starts as a stylishly shot piece of straightforward revenge action suddenly veers off to the far left and turns into a silly juvenile mystical OTT farce with an out of place bad guy with super powers giving the film a schizophrenic quality and belittles all the great stuff that went before. Its as if they lost faith in the initial premise and in true RAY DENNIS STECKLER Fashion decided to just go another way with it. KUNG FOOLERY. THANX