|
 The
Storm Riders
Starring: Aaron Kwok, Ekin Cheng, Sonny Chiba.
Directed by: Andrew Lau
Running Time: 128 mins.
Language: Cantonese, Mandarin
Subtitles: Chinese, English, Simplified Chinese
Buy
Now!!
Lord Conqueror wants to rule the Martial Arts world. It is foretold
by the prophet Mud Buddha that two boys will be the key to his success
and with them; he will be invincible for the first half of his life.
Lord Conqueror sets out to find the boys based on the birth charts
Mud Buddha had given him and raises them as his disciples. Their
names are Wind and Cloud.
Wind grows up to be gentle and naïve (translated: wuss) while
Cloud is silent and mysterious (translated: friggin' cool). With
them by his side, Lord Conqueror presides over the Martial Arts
world with an iron fist, waiting for the day to challenge the Sword
Saint in order to claim himself the undisputed leader. However,
being a tyrant is not without its cost as Wind and Cloud play an
important role in deciding Lord Conqueror's fate in the second half
of his life.
With Hong Kong movies not being known for realistic or even well-done
special effects, this live-action version of the famous Chinese
comic so exceeds expectations, that it can only be considered…Godly.
Fluorescent green light shooting from a monk's pinky finger does
not make for a good Dragon Spitting on Fairy technique (but
a blue one may). Luckily, none of that is present here. This movie
is simply gorgeous; eye-candy doesn't get better than this. The
sets are magnificent and the special effects are top-notch, rivaling
U.S. production values.
 
Sonny Chiba puts out an excellent performance as the power-hungry
Lord Conqueror, while Ekin Cheng and Aaron Kwok play Wind and Cloud,
respectively, to the best of their abilities (although that is not
saying much in regards to Cheng). Kwok however, looks great in this
movie…blue hair…leather pants…cape…no shirt...good
stuff.
The comic version of The Storm Riders is very long and involved
and thus the telling of this story within a two-hour movie means
leaving out a lot of its history. The story jumps around in certain
points without fully explaining the reasoning why certain things
happen. Why does the Fire Kirin belong with Cloud? When did Wind
learn to use a sword? In fact, when did either Wind or Cloud learn
to use swords? These sub-plots and many more are never fully explained.
You are forced to plainly accept that things are the way they are.
The Storm Riders should be considered a must-see by anyone
who thinks or wants to think that he or she is a Hong Kong movie
buff. It defines live-action animé and rightly so. Much like
how The Matrix raised the bar for the Hollywood action genre,
The Storm Riders raises the bar for Hong Kong Martial Arts
fantasies. Aaron Kwok actually does a good job as Cloud, but honestly,
how hard is it to play a quiet, mysterious guy who is a bad-ass
martial artist?
|
