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 Dearest
Acolytes, I’ve been saying to for ages to anyone who would listen.
Slowly, but surely we are coming to The Year of the Yen - Donnie Yen,
that is.
The martial arts stalwart has been a star in Asia
since the 1980’s lending his brilliance to films like the Once Upon a
Time in China II, Butterfly & Sword, Iron Monkey and Wing Chun. Then
along came his role as Sky, the first of Jet Li’s adversaries in the
international blockbuster, Hero. That small, memorable role not only put
Yen’s name above the title in Asia, but got him more notice in his 2nd
home in the US. He had has his biggest post-Hero U.S. exposure in 2003’s
Shanghai Knights. His all-too-brief spar with Jackie Chan is one of the
few things to recommend the sequel. Focusing on his confirmed star power
in China, Yen went on to star in the period epic Seven Swords, and then
in the film that set a new marker in the evolution of the martial arts
film, Sha Po Lang (-declawed, mismarketed and inanely renamed Kill
Zone in the US by a company that has no idea what to do with the gem in
their pockets). A furious mix of drama and heart-stopping action,
Sha Po Lang let the world see what Donnie could do. Boston University’s
Own Donnie Yen had taken his place as a bonafide action superstar in his
country alongside Jackie and Jet.
I don’t know
if you could tell, babies, but we are
slightly pro-Yen.
Flash Point is Yen’s newest actioner and I’m
thrilled that we are getting the film in theatres where it belongs. The
quick lowdown is Yen plays Detective Sergeant Jun, a chop first, ask
questions later cop who thinks nothing about breaking some limbs if it
gets him his man. Jun has his sights set on the trio of brothers trying
to make a name for themselves in the Triads. Fellow Detective Wilson
infiltrates the gang and over time becomes a right hand to the leader,
Tony. It is when Wilson’s double-agenting is exposed and the gang does
all it can to kill Wilson and his pregnant girlfriend, that Jun forces a
showdown with all three brothers.
Pretty standard HK cop-drama stuff, and perfectly
fine all the same, but the difference in Flash Point boils down to one
man - that would be Donnie Yen. Keep up, people! For those looking for
Citizen Kane, may I direct you elsewhere? However, if you came to see
superlative physical skill and some of the most exhilarating and
beautifully choreographed mixed martial arts captured on film? Flash
Point’s your huckleberry. There’s no dreamy Crouching Tiger or Hero-esque
flying through the air and no lush cinematography of bamboo jungles or
snow-covered mountainsides. Also, we won’t be seeing one fella chopping
and kicking his way through a gang of thousands. What you’re going to
see in Flash Point is down and dirty hand-to-hand combat; one fighter
against another, usually in fairly snug surroundings, making the action
more pressurised and intense. The camera angles are very well chosen to
capture what the combatants are doing at a far enough distance where the
audience can clearly see the beauty of the movements, but are tight
enough so that when Tony, the gang leader slams the back of Jun’s head
upside down on a piece of concrete, you get the headache. That’s the key
here, making the fighting great looking, fast and flashy, but never
forgetting that it’s supposed to hurt. And sure, there are moments where
you wonder if Donnie Yen is some kind of superhero continually being
able to get up after being knocked down like in that head-cracking
scene. And yes, he probably is a superhero, but all the same those
moments aren’t ludicrous and can easily be chalked up the tenacity of
his character and his will to finally put an end to the gang. Director
Wilson Yip fetishises Yen’s signature move in the film - a leaping
full-body takedown with Yen’s walnut-crushing thighs wrapped about the
necks or torsos of his opponents. We get to see it from different angles
and it really does look great and yet, I still don’t think I would try
this at the Temple.
One of the finest scenes in the film is Jun trying
to accost the most brutal of the triad brothers in a small café area.
Jun makes short work of a rather large wooden table and kicks and
punches out his rage when the brother uses a little girl as a human
shield. The other even more breathtaking scene is the final showdown
between Jun and Tony that takes place in a little concrete shack in the
middle of nowhere. Neither one of these tough guys will back down with
all the bad blood between them. Evenly matched for size and speed their
battle becomes a test of endurance. This fight sequence ran longer than
most you might see in a martial arts film and that was a wise choice.
The back and forth between Jun and Tony gives us insight to the strong
wills of both characters, each one is shown getting the best of the
other. It was exhausting to watch and I could have happily sat for
another half hour marveling at the beauty of the choreography and the
110% effort both actors gave this sequence.
To my surprise, Flash Point actually features other
actors besides Donnie Yen. Louis Koo, who is another huge star on the HK
scene, strikes a nice balance between being the film’s comic relief and
also its resident endangered species as the extremely burnt-orange
Wilson (- you’ll see). The gloriously tressed Fan Bing-Bing is
adorable as Wilson’s spunky girlfriend; I wish she had more scenes. The
standout in the cast is Collin Chou as the vicious, ambitious Triad gang
leader, Tony. His implacable face gives nothing away; lips curled in a
slight Mona Lisa smile means you’re never going to see what’s coming
till he kicks you in the head with it. He has the flat, dead eyes of a
shark and is nicely creepy. His fight with Donnie Yen is elevated to a
masterpiece in part due to Chou’s being able to believably match Yen’s
moves and fury.
Kids, I implore you to catch this one in theatres
while you have the chance. The breathless, breakneck action of Flash
Point can only truly be appreciated 40 feet high. So grab your popcorn
and dig it!
~ The
Lady Miz Diva/ Mighty Ganesha
March 12th, 2008
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