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Reviews
Huo Yuan Jia (2006)
A solid Martial Arts Film
I enjoyed this movie. However I do not think its up to the level of "House of Flying Daggers" or even "The Legend of Drunken Master". The plot is fairly predictable and really tries to drive home the "essence" of what martial arts should be. Moral values are a continuing theme in the story. While I have no problems with this, the actual story is fairly uninteresting. The scenes where Jet Li goes to the village after his family is killed, are particularly boring and really does nothing to move the plot.
On the good side, The fight scenes are of course EXCELLENT. Woo Ping never fails to impress. Jet Li does an excellent job. The movie never lulls on the action front.
I know this review seems more weighted toward the negative, but I do recommend you see this film if you are a martial arts fan.
However do not expect an emotionally involving movie such as Crouching Tiger, House of Flying daggers, or Hero. I would recommend any of those films over this.
I guess my expectations were high, and I was slightly let down, hoping for a more engrossing story line and character development.
All that said, 7.0 / 10.. Its defiantly worth seeing for the action alone..
Merlin's Apprentice (2006)
Not Good
Just finished watching it.. The movie is pretty weak. The original is far better. Sam Neil is barely in this and only in flashbacks. The unknown cast is passable, but nothing in this movie seems to come into focus. Miranda Richardson is really starting to show her age. She's playing the Lady of the Lake character and seems as if she is sleepwalking thru the part. All the characters are very subdued, no passion or emotion is here.. I was expecting this film to contain a lot of magic, however quickly realized there would be none. The film defiantly is lacking the "magical" feel of the first one. Magic takes the back seat to a boring plot. And I think that is really where the movie fails. Now this movie is only 1hr 32mins, so there is far less time to develop anything compared to the 3+ hour running time of the first film. However without Sam Neils endearing performance and and such a throw out plot, this movie is a poor sequel. I would recommend you skip it, or fast forward to the Sam Neil parts.