Let me first say that I don't really need Jet Li to smile and crack jokes. To me, he's more interesting and enigmatic when he's doing his Buster Keaton scowl. The determination is part of what make his effortless moves so amazing. If I was silly drunken exploits mixed with martial arts, usually I'd rather watch Jackie Chan do it. That said, I don't remember when I last saw a movie as relentlessly fun and Twin Warriors (the American title of the film apparently called Tai ji Zhang San Feng in Hong Kong). It's more fun than any Chan film that I've seen and far more entertaining than anything either actor has done on this side of the Atlantic.
Inevitably in Hong Kong, this film was longer. And perhaps the "plot" made more sense. Not that that's worth caring about. Basically, Jet Li and Chin Siu-hou are exiled monks who end up on opposite sides of the law. Michelle Yeoh shows up for very little reason, but nobody's complaining. With no more than that to keep the film going narratively, nine out of every ten minutes is spent fighting.
And what marvelous battles they are, inevitably featuring our plucky heroes, Jet and Michelle, fighting against dozens of armed adversaries. Directed by Woo-Ping Yuen, who's now best known as the master behind The Matrix's martial arts sequences, Twin Warriors adds a new twist in every battle, whether it's Yeoh turning a broken bar table into stilts, or Li deciding to fight an entire skirmish using only his head. Sure. It isn't realistic. Because people don't fly. And they rarely bounce around on their heads like human pogos. They climb walls and it's even rarely for people to battle balanced precariously on thin ropes. Fabulous tricks all.
As I said, Li is probably a little too silly for my tastes. When he pretends to be a duck toward the end of the movie, it grates a little. But of course when he's fighting you just marvel at his form and at the fact that you almost believe he could do it all. Yeoh is similarly weak when she isn't fighting and she spends a bit too much of the movie being victimized to actually be doing her full duty as a twin warrior.
Still and all, as films of this genre go, it doesn't get much better than this. I'd give this one 8/10 and that might be being a little stingy.
Inevitably in Hong Kong, this film was longer. And perhaps the "plot" made more sense. Not that that's worth caring about. Basically, Jet Li and Chin Siu-hou are exiled monks who end up on opposite sides of the law. Michelle Yeoh shows up for very little reason, but nobody's complaining. With no more than that to keep the film going narratively, nine out of every ten minutes is spent fighting.
And what marvelous battles they are, inevitably featuring our plucky heroes, Jet and Michelle, fighting against dozens of armed adversaries. Directed by Woo-Ping Yuen, who's now best known as the master behind The Matrix's martial arts sequences, Twin Warriors adds a new twist in every battle, whether it's Yeoh turning a broken bar table into stilts, or Li deciding to fight an entire skirmish using only his head. Sure. It isn't realistic. Because people don't fly. And they rarely bounce around on their heads like human pogos. They climb walls and it's even rarely for people to battle balanced precariously on thin ropes. Fabulous tricks all.
As I said, Li is probably a little too silly for my tastes. When he pretends to be a duck toward the end of the movie, it grates a little. But of course when he's fighting you just marvel at his form and at the fact that you almost believe he could do it all. Yeoh is similarly weak when she isn't fighting and she spends a bit too much of the movie being victimized to actually be doing her full duty as a twin warrior.
Still and all, as films of this genre go, it doesn't get much better than this. I'd give this one 8/10 and that might be being a little stingy.