Ip Man | Showbiz: New Take On Aged Demons

Directed by Wilson Yip
Starring Louis Koo, Liu Yi Fei, Yu Shao Qun, Kara Hui,
Louis Fan

IN this age of remakes and reboots, a should not be astounded that yesteryear drive-in theatre are creation a return to the china screen. Such is the box of A Chinese Ghost Story, done renouned in the 1980s and early 1990s, a movie trilogy constructed by Tsui Hark. It starred Joey Wong and featured the late Leslie Cheung in the initial two instalments.

The stream adjustment of the admire story (written in the Qing Dynasty) between a human and a spirit is helmed by executive Wilson Yip (Ip Man and Ip Man 2). This typical comes with a larger concentration on intrigue and a admire triangle is introduced to serve confuse the tale.

Nie Xiao Qian (played by Liu Yi Fei) is a tender spirit tranquil by the 1,000-year-old Tree Demon Lao Lao (Kara Hui) in Black Mountain. When she crosses paths with the trusting supervision officer Ning Cai Chen (Yu Shao Qun), the two drop in love. But Nie has a past that involves devil hunter Yan Chi Xia (Louis Koo), who is hell-bent on destroying the Tree Demon. Unfortunately, Nie has no memories of the times they had outlayed together.

Liu is impediment as Nie, who is bending on candy. Yu as reserved pretty-boy Ning, on the other hand, is the best conflicting of Koo's chubby macho-man Yan.

Despite Yip's insistence that this is not a remake, it is unfit not to make comparisons with progressing movie adaptations. Fans of Tsui's trilogy will wish to grasp this new update, if usually for nostalgia's sake.

With a bill of US$20 million (RM58 million), the movie showcases more than just a fighting of admire mislaid and found. Under Yip's direction, design martial arts scenes inclusive that between humans and spirits.

Special belongings are aplenty, this time ample more refined, since today's technology. Yet the aware with, and normally revere Tsui's productions of folklo! re, migh t not foster this new retelling much. They would dispute that there is no originality, notwithstanding the identical characters. And the story dwindles median and weakens towards the end.

But for The Twilight Saga-loving era (who are probably as well young to have held Tsui's drive-in theatre when they were initial released), the grounds of banned admire between human and fragile being, albeit with an Asian flavour, might just appeal.