No
one has time for kung fu treachery in this life, unless it's part of
your kung fu cinema regimen. If you're like me, you know that the
greatest kung fu flicks of all time fall under one of two categories: 1)
films starring Bruce Lee, and 2) films from the Shaw Brothers. Yeah,
I'm thinking that Gareth Evans and Iko Uwais are working on creating a
third category for me, but we're not there just yet. Regardless, I
watched Blood Brothers in Shaw Scope this weekend and had a great
time with it. It was rather grim and the ending was a major bummer,
but it was pretty obvious we were heading in that direction from the
opening frame. The usual grand sets, colorful costumes, and incredible
choreography were all on display, but if you know the Shaw Brothers, you
knew that already. The story was compelling and the three leads (David
Chiang, Lung Ti, and Kuan Ti Chen) all did a remarkable job with both
the acting and the chops and kicks that Blood Brothers required
of them. There was a strange emphasis on dudes rolling down hills in
slow-motion (this didn't happen once or twice--it was more like five to
ten times) that I didn't completely understand, but it was still a
quality kung fu flick. I loved David Chiang's work with the triple
staff and Lung Ti really stole the show as the "brother" whose lust for
power (and Kuan Ti Chen's lovely wife) eventually turned the three men
against one another. It wasn't in the upper echelon of movies c/o of
the Shaw Brothers (Five Deadly Venoms, Crippled Avengers, Five Shaolin Masters), but it was definitely worthwhile.
Final Grade: C+
 |
| Dude in the middle (Lung Ti) looks like an asshole, doesn't he? This isn't one of those examples of how looks can be deceiving. |
No comments:
Post a Comment