"But somehow, in the end the movie does feel 2D instead of 3D in terms of character."
Just saw this movie.
My reaction;
1. Someone made notes from The Two Towers and 300.
2. Looks epic but not at the epic scale of Return Of The King. It is Two Towers in essence.
3. hated the maze like fort.
4. For all the hoopla about everybody including and especially Raymond lam, Raymond was only the one next to the secondary. The main one was Wu Chun actually and I thought wow, Linda Chung in drag! But no one ever mentioned the main idol here, that is Adam Cheng. Adam Cheng's 1 scene could out act everybody in this movie, EVERYBODY.
5. Dubbing was terrible, even actors dubbing themselves, like Ekin who sounds bored. Raymond however did well in my opinion but too little.
6. All sons had little personality, no time to develop on them. But I shall scream if I see another obligatory each son 1 shot whenever they fight, run, pose, whatever.
7. Death scenes were done very well, very sad. BUT the story is amazingly underdevelop. I wonder why? Not enough time?
8. Ekin is perfectly cast as eldest son, heroic, serious, etc and he is the lead by poster definition BUT if only his acting can match that look he has. And I don't get why everyone is so eager to die in this movie. In the end rendered pointless because of what the father did. Was it worth it? I don't think so.
9. Love some original fighting scenes; like the fight in the fields, the last fight between 6th son and enemy where he used al his brother's and his father's weapon to fight the bad guy. I thought that was the best and more representative scene of this movie where not one son is volunteering to die but rather worked together as one albeit through weapons. That scene alone made this movie wonderful.
10. And the the stupid ending stupify it all. That mother hugging the dead husband never once asked... "Where is eldest? Where is second? Where is third? Where is fourth? Where is fifth? Where is seventh? Where are my sons?!" and just touched the husband tenderly. Like to hell with my sons as long as I get my husband's body back. Very cold.
In summary, this could have been a great movie. I mean it looks good, the costumes look good (how come villain's ear's not pierced?, Most actors were good despite lack of development and personality and none of them look alike as brothers except for 6th and 7th,. Death scenes were heart wrenching although I hated the 300-ish meeting with the soothsayer scene and the whole father I am dead I am in your dreams then I argue with my alter ego dream like scene which takes away the harsh reality of the fact that his sons were facing imminent death just to rescue him alone, and female characters who were non existent and the worst casting of the mother. I thought she was Cheng Pei Pei and then I saw she wasn't. Why not FIND Cheng Pei Pei? I will pay to see her sit on Adam's lap! Although it is a bit borrowed from some big Hollywood movies, I appreciate the effort to make the movie look epic and cinematic. And I love the first throw bags into air and shoot with arrows and throw with fire and burn all enemy scene.
But somehow, in the end the movie does feel 2D instead of 3D in terms of character. The story is flawed too. Yue Fei dying I understand but the sons and father dying didn't make enough sense to justify tear fest. But it is in the end one of the best chinese movie of recent years because it looks like a movie.
SADDEST DEATH SCENE
Ekin eventhough his eagerness to sacrifice himself is troubling. If he had known 7th have died, would he stop and think maybe that fortune teller dude needs to be trashed?
MOST SHOCKING DEATH SCENE
Not sure which son, the one aka Legolas.
BEST FIGHT SCENE
The 6th and enemy man to man fight with his brothers and father's weapons/.
CHEESIEST DEATH SCENE
Was it 4th and 5th off the cliff? If yes, that one. Quite funny.
BEST PROP
The horses and they were real
WORST PROP
The women. You see them, but they have nothing much to do.
MOST USELESS CHARACTER
The Emperor
MOST CLIFF HANGER OF ALL CLIFF HANGERS
Did 5th and 6th die? My friend said in another version 5th became a monk, 6th married the enemy's princess? Is it true? In fact my friend said 7 will go, 6th will return when actually 3 didn't die, out of which 5th became a monk and so stopped being Yang and 4th married the enemy's princess and so stopped being a Yang and only 6th came home. True?
MOST EFFECTIVE INEFFECTIVE VILLAIN
That chancellor? Minister? We all know he's a villain but he is just there, nothing to do
MOST OVERLY USED MOMENTS
The posing scenes. Each has his own focus. And the top off scene. For some unknown reasons a son suddenly take his top off and fight the air. But a lot were like pose and pose and pose. Most poses came from the Legolas dude and dear 5th son (often close ups)
MOST FAVOURITE SON
For me, was Ray the 5th son? Because he can fight AND he is ready to die AND he died with a smile AND he is a doctor AND GOD DAMN IT, this is one of Ray's less pretentious performance!
BEST PERFORMANCE
Adam Cheng. The rest can just hang around him as posse as they are.
WORST ACTING
The mother.
VERDICT
Highly recommended but definitely not as great as some fans say it is. But it is better than a lot of other Chinese movies out there.
P/S
I notice different country different person at the front of the poster. In Malaysia Ekin is at the front. Taiwan? Probably Vic Zhou? I couldn't recognise Zai Zai!