The Fox Lover 白狐

Released Year: 2013

Directed by 牛朝陽 Niu ChaoYang

Casted by:

 張智霖 Julian Cheung as 王元豐 Wang Yuen Feng

鍾欣潼 Gillian Choong as 小翠 Xiao Cui

惠英紅 Kara Hui as 狐母 Madam Yu

高虎 Gao Hu as 海蝠王 Hai Fu Wang

陳哈妮 Chen Ha Ni as 紅蓮 Hong Lian

殷果兒 Yin Guo Er as 靈兒 Ling Er

關智斌 Kenny Kwan as 智精 Zhi Jing

 Story:

The film opens with Madame Yu conversing with Lord Weng and his son, Yuan Feng, who has been suffering from a mental disability for three years. In return for a favor Lord Weng did for Madame Yu, Madame Yu offers to Yuan Feng the hand of one of her many daughters. After seeing them all, Yuan can still not decide until the arrival of Willow. Upon seeing her, he picks Willow as his bride. Madame Yu then hands Yuan one of Willow' s hair clasps, claiming that this will make Willow his. Madame Yu informs Lord Weng that he and his son are in a dream, and that they should come to meet her and Willow that night. After their departure, she informs Willow of Yuan Feng's choice. Willow however has no desire to wed, and pleads with her mother. Madame Yu eventually convinces her to at least meet Yuan.

As Yuan, Ji Yao, and Lord Weng make their way to the meeting point, they are attacked by the Sea Bat King and his minions. Lord Weng is carried off by the minions before Madame Yu and Willow arrive, and quickly dispel the bats. Willow meets Yuan Feng, and Yuan Feng clutches her, crying that his father is gone as Willow half heartedly comforts him. Madame Yu takes Ji and Yuan to the home of the Fox Fairies, where she and her daughters, save Willow, witness the death of Lord Weng at the hands of the King. Madame Yu, distraught, attempts to head out to avenge Lord Weng, but is stopped by her daughters who ask for time to prepare.

Willow in the meantime is spending some time with Yuan Feng. When he embraces Willow, she asks if he will never let her go. As he states he won't, he is stabbed with a flying knife, an arrow, and set afire, all while holding Willow. Willow believes he truly loves her, until some of her sisters, led by Lotus, coax Yuan Feng into saying the same thing to them. Disheartened, Willow throws herself on her mother's mercy, and Madame Yu relents, saying that they will be taking Yuan Feng to a local medicine man, Master Chaye, who will be able to help awaken the power within Yuan Feng. Once he has been awakened, he will forget all of the past three years, including Willow, and can choose another bride.

Together, Madame Yu, Willow, Lotus, Ling, Ji Yao, and Yuan Feng set out to meet the medicine man, leaving the remaining sisters to protect the Valley from the Sea Bat King.

L² Scored: 3/10

L² Comment:

Among all the monster/spirit... I love foxy the most, but this movie is a bit disappointed seriously... The director focus more on the color and effect and forget about the storyline, it is too long for god sake... Overall its not ok, if compare to the fiction which has been writen so many hundred years ago~ i consider this is a FAIL movie !!!

Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons 西游·降魔篇

 Released Year: 2013

Directed by 周星馳 Stephen Chow

Casted by:

文章 Wen Zhang as 陳玄奘 Tang Sang Zhang

舒淇 Shu Qi as 段小姐 Duan

黄渤 Huang Bo as 猴妖 Sun WuKong

羅志祥 Show Luo as 空虛公子 Prince Important

李尚正 Lee Sheung Jin as 水妖 Sand Monk

陳炳強 Chen Bing Qiang as 豬妖 KL Hog

 Story: 

The movie takes place before Tang Sanzang got his disciples and embarked on the Journey to the West.

A young village girl plays by the river and her father frightens her by pretending to be a fish demon, although he is then killed by a mysterious underwater creature. A Taoist priest kills a giant manta ray and insists the demon is dead. Buddhist demon hunter Sanzang appears to warn the animal is not the true demon but is violently ignored. The demon reemerges and kills a number of villagers but Sanzang is able to beach the fish-like demon, which turns into a man. Sanzang then opens a book of nursery rhymes and begins to sing to the man. The man feels harassed and attacks Sanzang but another demon hunter, Duan appears and captures him in her cloth, turning him into a puppet. Sanzang reveals to Duan that his master taught him a humanist approach and to use nursery rhymes to coax goodness out of demons, a tactic Duan scoffs at. Disillusioned, Sanzang meets back up with his master and bemoans his lack of capabilities in comparison to more aggressive demon-hunters such as Duan. His master reaffirms his philosophy of trying to reform evil demons and sends him off again, telling him to find "enlightenment."

A couple enters an empty restaurant but the chef reveals himself to be a pig demon and kills them. Sanzang comes to the same restaurant, this time apparently filled with people. However, Sanzang sees through the illusion and recognizes them as reanimated corpses of the demon's victims, as well as the demon's iconic nine-pronged weapon. Sanzang gets into a battle with one of the corpses but Duan arrives and destroys all of them. Duan then battles the demon. In the ensuing battle, the building collapses and Sanzang and Duan retreat as the demon is momentarily injured. Duan then develops a strong limerence towards Sanzang after being impressed by his selfless ideals. She wishes to kiss him, but he quickly flees, not wishing to deal with romantic love in his quest for nirvana.

Sanzang's master advises him to tame the Monkey King demon Sun Wukong (trapped by Buddha) to subdue the pig demon. That night, he is captured by a gang that had also subdued Duan. It is later revealed to be a ploy orchestrated by Duan to trick Sanzang into having sex. After Sanzang rejects her again, she has him imprisoned. The pig demon reappears and injures Duan but is chased off by a trio of rivaling demon-hunters. Duan views Sanzang's concern for her injuries as a romantic attraction. After Sanzang refuses her advances again, she destroys his book of nursery rhymes and he promptly leaves.

After days of traveling, Sanzang finally discovers the hole where Monkey King was trapped in for five-hundred years. Monkey King informs him to use a dancer under the full moon as bait. Duan appears and volunteers to dance. The pig demon appears and falls into Monkey King's hole, turning into a miniature pig, which Duan turns into a puppet. Duan then gives both the fish and pig puppets to Sanzang and offers her golden ringed weapon as an engagement band, but he rejects her again. She leaves after returning his nursery rhyme book, which she had pieced back together, although at random due to being bad at reading.

Monkey King successfully tricks Sanzang into removing the seal on his prison. The three demon hunters appear to catch Monkey King but he kills them all after a brutal fight. Injured, Sanzang then begins to pray to Buddha, and in retaliation Monkey King rips the hair from his head. Duan arrives to save Sanzang, enraged and attacks but the Monkey King mortally injures her. Sanzang finally tells Duan he loves her. Monkey King proceeds to destroy her body, but Sanzang is able to summon Buddha, when it is revealed that Duan accidentally reassembled the words of his book into those of the Buddha Sutra. Buddha, in vast form, defeats Monkey King with the palm of his hand. Sanzang then places Duan's golden ring atop Monkey King as his iconic restrictive headband.

Sanzang tells his master that his suffering due to Duan's loss has helped him to enlightenment. Sanzang is then instructed to journey west(India) for the Buddhist sutras of Leiyin Temple, and it is shown that the Water Demon, Pig Demon, and Monkey King have been tamed and turned into humans named, respectively, Sandy, Pigsy, and Sun Wukong. As they hike across the desert, Sanzang looks across the sand and sees an image of Duan.

 L² Scored: 6.5/10 

L² Comment:

I understand that Stephen Chow wanna make his own version of Journey To The West, but this is very much different from the original fiction. And from the movie, we can see that Stephen created some characters which are similar from his old Journey to the West movie back in 1994. Wen Zhang hairstyle and dressing is exactly the same as per his old wukong character, ShuQi in the other hand portrait the similar character like Athena Chu has acted before. Not a big fans of this movie, but no doubt the graphic effect is not bad~ but will not consider to watch it again~  

The Grandmaster 一代宗師

 Released Year: 2013

Directed by 王家卫 Wong Kar Wai

Casted by:

梁朝偉 Tony Leung as 葉問 Ip Man

章子怡 Zhang Ziyi as 宮若梅 / 宮二 Gong Er

張震 Zhang Zheng as 一线天 Yi Xian Tian

赵本山 Zhao Ben Shan as 丁连山 Ding Lian Shan

張晉 Zhang Jin as 馬得月 / 馬三 Ma San

宋慧喬 Song Hye-Kyo as 張永成 Zhang Yong Cheng

 Story: 

The film chronicles the life of the Wing Chun grandmaster Ip Man from the 1930s in Foshan, his flight to Hong Kong after the Second Sino-Japanese War, and the events leading to his death.

The movie begins with Ip Man reflecting on martial arts, and then cuts to a scene of a fight under the rain between Ip and a dozen combatants. Ip Man wins, and experiences flashbacks of his life, from his early training at the age of seven to his induction into martial arts by his master Chan Wah-shun, and his marriage to his wife Cheung Wing-sing.

Ip Man's peaceful existence is threatened by the arrival of Gong Yutian, the Wudang Boxing martial arts grandmaster from northern China, who announces that he has already retired and has appointed Ma San as his heir in the North. He then concedes that the South should have its own heir. A flurry of discussions and fights erupt as various masters attempt to challenge Gong, but they are all barred by Ma San. As the Southern masters are deliberating on a representative, Gong Yutian's daughter Gong Er arrives and she tries to convince her father not to continue the fight, as she feels they are all unworthy. Meanwhile, the Southern masters decide on Ip Man to represent them, and Ip proceeds to be tested by three Southern masters before he challenges Gong Yutian. However, the "fight" between Ip and Gong turns out to be actually an exchange of philosophical ideas. Gong declares Ip the winner and returns to northern China. However, Gong Er sets out to regain her family's honour by challenging Ip Man, and they agree that if anything breaks, Ip loses. "Kung Fu is about precision", so whoever breaks a piece of furniture during the fight will be the loser. An intense fight breaks out between Ip Man and Gong Er, which concludes with victory for Gong because Ip broke a step at the very end. Ip and Gong then part on friendly terms, with Ip saying he wants a rematch.

Ip Man and Gong Er keep in contact after parting ways by exchanging letters, and Ip intends to bring his family with him to northern China, but his plans are disrupted by the outbreak of the Second Sino-Japanese War in 1938. During the war, Ip Man and his family descend into poverty and he loses his two daughters due to starvation. In the meantime, in northern China, Ma San becomes a hanjian and ends up killing Gong Yutian. When Gong Er returns, she confronts her elders for forsaking her father but they tell her that her father's final wish was for her to be happy and not to seek vengeance. Gong Er refuses to accept that, and she vows to never teach, marry or have children her entire life, in order to choose the path of vengeance.

Ip Man moves to Hong Kong in the hope of starting a career as a martial arts teacher, but ends up facing all sorts of challenges because there were also numerous other martial arts masters. He defeats them soundly and earns a reputation. He meets Gong Er again on Chinese New Year's Eve 1950 and asks her for a contest one more time while implying that she should start rebuilding her martial art school. But Gong Er refuses, stating that many martial arts disappeared in the course of history; and that hers would not be the only one. A flashback 10 years earlier shows a confrontation between Gong Er and Ma San at a train station on Chinese New Year's Eve 1940, and Gong kills Ma after a brutal and intense fight. However, Gong herself is heavily injured and loses her desire to use martial art.

The film then fast-forwards to 1952, when Ip Man and Gong Er meet each other for the last time. Gong confesses to Ip that she has had romantic feelings for him right from the beginning. She dies shortly after. Ip explains in a voice over that in the fight with Ma San, Gong was injured so badly she turned to opium for the pain and this was her downfall. The final scenes offer a visual montage as Ip Man's school flourishes, including a statement that Ip made Wing Chun popular worldwide and his most famous student was Bruce Lee. Off screen, it is stated that Ip Man died in 1972.

L² Scored: 7.5/10

L² Comment: 

I watched this because of Ziyi Zhang, she won so many awards out from this movie, but is she really that good? I'm a bit doubt about it... it was nothing special that what she did in "House of Flying Daggers", how can the judges be so stupid and let her won as much as 12 Best Actress? Its kinda bullshit to me...

Story wise is so so... this is not the first Ip Man movie, so basically everybody knows a bit here and there... Not really fancy Wong Kar Wai's action movie, it makes all those fighters look so sissy when they fight, yuck!

Out of Inferno 逃出生天

 Released Year: 2013

Directed by 彭順 Danny Pang & 彭發 Oxide Pang

Casted by:

古天樂  Louis Koo as 阿強 Keong

劉青雲 Sean Lau as 大軍 Tai Kwan

李心潔 Angelica Lee as 思樂 Si Lok

陳思誠 Chen Si Cheng as 李健樂 Kin Lok

 Story:

The film stars two estranged brothers in Guangzhou, Tai-Kwan and Keung, who had worked as firefighters. The last time they spoke with one another was during the funeral of their father, four years before the events of the film. Keung, now retired from firefighting, operates a fire protection systems company. In the beginning of the film, he holds a celebration of the opening of the office of his company. Meanwhile, Tai-Kwan's wife, Si-lok, is seeing a gynaecologist. The company and the doctor are in the same building. A fire breaks out in the basement and travels upwards. Tai-Kwan, who submits his resignation before the fire breaks out, is sent in his unit to fight the fire. Keung finds Si-lok and struggles to rescue her.

 L² Scored: 6/10 

L² Comment:

 No doubt the graphic, the picture is nice... but kinda bit disappointed to watch this movie as i am always a big fans of the Pang's brother... But this movie is not that good... lack of excitement of the storyline, and the characters are not that strong too in each presenter. Overall this movie is just so so...