In this Chinese action-crime film, we get a fine mashup of 12th century Song dynasty martial arts, fantasy action with modern, territorial police chasing a counterfeit ring procedural. The entire look and feel of the film is ancient, but many of the the small touches are straight out of any TV procedural. The first clue that this is a unique perspective is that the two competing law enforcement agencies are named Department Six and The Divine Constabulary. Maybe these mean something and the mashup was unintentional, but I found it hilarious and thought these kinds of touches added to the overall affect. The story follows a few martial arts masters with "special skills" as they track down a counterfeit ring. Each agency has its own agenda, and there are spies and moles throughout. Add in the magical technology and the magical powers and viola... entertainment. This setup begs to be a franchise starter as each of these characters could tell a story of their own, and the group could tackle many threats to the king. Love this.
4 stars (out of 5)
No comments:
Post a Comment