Chinese fantasy films tend to be visual effects extravaganza to the point that a director seems almost superfluous to the whole process. The way the visuals take over, coupled with the obvious wirework in the fight scenes, these movies often reside in the uncanny valley; the heightened reality occasionally distracting from the overall intent. Perhaps.
Still, with the advances of computing power in relation to the visual effects, that valley is getting a little greener, so long as the green is dumped into that said valley. And where might a director stand in all that? Especially since the director is why I checked out this movie in the first place…
Renny Harlin was working on SkipTrace (2016), traipsing across China with Jackie Chan and pulling off a fairly decent action flick. Not many would agree, especially given how Chan has been slowing down or cutting back with these action movies, but still, there were some pretty good moments there. Harlin looked like he trusted his star with the action. Working with a China crew must have appealed to Harlin as he’s the director for this one, probably his first full-fledged fantasy extravaganza. AND he’s got one more Chinese film yet to be released at this time.
While the action and the effects do seem to take precedence, there are moments where you can see Harlin’s touches, from the framing of scenes to the way the action is shot. And he’s done so many action films before (prominently Die Hard 2, The Long Kiss Goodnight, Cliffhanger, Deep Blue Sea) bringing a kind of giddy, sometimes vertigo inducing, camera flow and track. Boy, does the story give him lots of opportunities to indulge and make some corrections to and apologies for Cutthroat Island (1995). Maybe he did, or maybe he didn’t, but we do have sky-ships and sword fights akin to pirate attacks.
Story-wise, it seems all so straight-forward. Three individuals of varying and disparate fighting skills come together, put aside their individual purposes to do battle with a greater evil. They just need to retrieve an ancient sword first. There are also some robots that look like monsters that would fit well in a Guillermo del Toro movie, and they are controlled by some kind of magic. The opening fight sequence sets to recall Real Steel (2011) in how the controllers move these monstrous robots. They seem relevant to the plot at first, but then not.
Overall, this is still a visual feast with magical worlds, floating cities, flying ships, painted worlds and so much more, but the beautiful window dressing still can’t hide the few flaws in the story. The characters seem cliche yet serviceable to the story itself. There are no real stakes for them, but ultimately, it doesn’t matter. It’s all for the fun of it. Why else have a giant panda as the ship’s captain? Same goes for the semi-steampunk world they all inhabit. You may just need to check your brain in a box.
Rating: 🗡🗡🗡 /5
Directed by Renny Harlin
Written by Frankie Tam, Huang Huihui
Adapted from “Legend of The Ancient Sword II” by Gong Wei, Feng Ge, Shao Yun
Stars Leehom Wang, Victoria Song, Godfrey Gai, Karena Wu, Archie Kao, Julian Cheung, Ada Liu
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Berning Away 
[…] I think this is Chan’s first foray into the realm of Chinese CGI Fantasy. Basically, this is heavily CGI effects laden adventure set somewhere a little out of reality with beautifully designed worlds and creatures, all nestling very comfortably in the Uncanny Valley without any bother. It’s not unlike that other fantasy flick I caught last year, Legend of The Ancient Sword. […]
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[…] Skiptrace (2016) with Jackie Chan, followed by the typically CGI-laden Chinese fantasy flick, Legend of The Sword […]
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