In terms of marketing, there couldn’t be a better time for a film like Wushu to be released in China. After the 100 gold medals the country won not too long ago in the Olympics, Hong Kong audiences should still be inspired by sportsmanship and so this film should appeal. Presented by Jackie Chan (the executive producer of the film), Wushu is set in a real martial arts school in today’s China. Brothers Li Yi (Wei Dong) and Li Er (Wu Dezhou) are brought to the elite wushu school by their father Li Hui (Sammo Hung). There they meet Fong Fong (Liu Xin), Zhang Xiao (Shi Yao) and Yang Yauwu (Liang Zhicheng) and, as the film evolves, we see them grow up together, become life-long friends and eventually form a gang they call Jin Wu Men. The five train hard to prepare for the selection competition for the provincial team but their focus shifts when
they meet Ke Le (Tie Nan), a previous top student in the school expelled for seriously injuring a schoolmate in a fight. It turns out Ke is the head of a child-kidnapping organization, and Li Yi, Li Hui and Yang Yauwu must risk their lives to save the kidnapped children as well as Li Er.
One could say of a coming-of-age action drama like this that it is a Chinese version of High School Musical with fighting and blood but that would not be fair. At the beginning of the film, Sammo Hung gives a lecture on the spirit of martial arts – that ethics, not technique, is most important and defeating yourself is the goal for any martial arts master. Coming from a legendary action film hero like Hung, you know the speech comes from the actor, not the character. He does a fine job playing a loving yet aging father giving way to the younger generation to show off their martial arts skills. (Okay, he did show off a little in the final battle scene just to convince us he still has what it takes.)
Martial arts movies can so easily be touched-up rehashes of the same old stories but Wushu is more than just a tired update. Although it doesn’t stray from straight story telling without any twists or surprises, the fast editing in the opening sequence, MV-style of filming when portraying the friendship of the five leads, the spilt-screens in fight scenes and the adroit use of different genres of music all manage to provide freshness. And we should not forget the focus of the film is martial arts itself. As all the actors are real martial artists and perform the action scenes themselves, it is enjoyable to see the moves without the quick cuts Hong Kong action movies that use stunts and stunt doubles have to employ to cover the fact. Wushu even allows some slow-motion shots of the moves. Another laudable touch is the final scene’s fight in the backyard on a sea of peanut shells – details like that keep the background of the story and its characters alive in one’s mind. And the scrawls on the walls of the broken brick house the five leads hung out in when they were kids – Maoist slogans side by side with more modern painted graffiti. With its attention to such detail, Wushu shows a new way of making Chinese martial arts movies, though there is still a long way to go.
Rachel Mok |
