Here it is, a week later, and I’m still in awe of Tsui Hark’s The Flying Swords of Dragon Gate. Shot in 3D, I streamed this on Netflix so I saw the 2D version. Jet Li lends his talents alongside a large cast (I’d recently seen Li in The Expendables 2). This is a wuxia film (e.g. martial arts heroes) with not one, but several adept masters (male and female) who rely on a fascinating array of weaponry.
The plot of The Flying Swords of Dragon Gate is written in a style which dovetails into an extended scene at Dragon Gate. The writing of these characters went well beyond Ang Lee’s Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. This was written with more heroics, action, and inventive choreography — there’s a fight in a SANDSTORM — to blow the lid off the genre. Hands down, this movie had the best female action roles (that’s right, plural) in a non-hypersexualized manner that I’ve seen in a long, long time. There is meta-commentary on gender, but it’s integrated into the storytelling so it comes across as natural.
Between the visual effects, self-fracturing sword, treasure hunt, and… Yeah, I loved this addition to Tsui Hark’s collection of innovative films, and definitely need to find out if there’s American distribution for his classics.
Either that, or maybe I should learn Mandarin. Always a possibility!
- Mood: It’s a Thursday. GO THUNDER! AND LIGHTNING!
Caffeinated Beverages Consumed: Well, I can always have more.
Work-Out Minutes Logged Yesterday: The Gym.
In My Ears: Unsustainable from The 2nd Law by Muse
Game Last Played: Dragon Age: Awakenings
Movie Last Viewed: The Hobbit
Latest Artistic Project: Holiday presents
Latest Release: “The Button” We Are Dust anthology