by Jayden Leggett, Editor

It feels like forever since I have watched a good kung fu flick in the vein of so many Hong Kong classics. Finally, I get to experience another taste of sweet fighting bliss with the Blu-Ray release of Wu Dang.

Taking place during the days of Republican China, the main portion of the film takes place in the Wu Dang mountains, where the paths of several individuals converge. Professor Tang is entering his daughter Tang Ning in a prestigious martial arts tournament that takes place in Wu Dang only once every five hundred years. His daughter just wants to do her best and win for her father, while the Professor wants to slip away to search for the ten ancient treasures rumored to be hidden throughout the mountains.

Simultaneously, a mysterious woman named Tian Xin likewise seeks to compete in the competition and also has ulterior motives for being there: she wishes to recover an ancient sword made of meteoric stone that once belonged to her ancestors. The final player in this tangled tale of intrigue is Shui Heyi, a common man who only wants to look after his ailing mother but is chosen by the Grand Taoist Master of Wu Dang to compete in the tournament.

Along the way all sorts of plot thickenings and mucky-stuff hitting the fan occurs. The Professor and Tian Xin are often caught in the act of trying to steal the treasures (with their actions resulting in fast-paced fighting sequences). Several fights are carried out as part of the tournament, while Tang Ning falls in love with the caring and compassionate commoner Shui Heyi. Towards the end of the film, all sorts of hell slowly begin to break loose as a traitor amongst the Wu Dang ranks activates the mystical powers of the ten treasures to become a being of godlike power.

In terms of the story, I was neither blown away nor disappointed. While I felt that the sudden supernatural elements towards the end of the film felt like they somewhat came out of nowhere, and while nothing out of the storyline is particularly mind-blowing or amazing, I enjoyed following the plot of this film. The acting was solid, and the use of following the narrative from the different perspectives of the three different characters was a nice plot device that helped add some much appreciated creativity to what otherwise would have been an average-at-best storyline.

But let’s be serious for a moment. One does not simply watch a movie such as Wu Dang because they wish to see a sophisticated piece of storytelling. We all came here for one reason: insane martial arts antics. And in this, Wu Dang delivers in spades. There were fights in alleyways. Fights in planes. Fights in the arena. Fights in a cave. Fights on paddle boats. Fights everywhere! Thankfully, the excellent choreography combined with the high levels of martial arts skills of the combatants made every fight scene a pure joy to watch. Initially a put off to me, this is one of those “wire-fu” movies where cables are used a lot, sometimes in a very over-the-top fashion. I eventually warmed up to the slightly unbelievable gravity of the film, and was glued to the screen every time there was a punch or kick taking place.

Adding to my enjoyment of the hand-to-hand action was the beautiful camera work and cinematography. Stunningly executed camera angles and gorgeous landscapes and scenery made this flick a joy to behold. The traditional and dramatic music used was excellent, and I loved the sound effects that stopped just short of being cheesy while still paying tribute to the smacks and slaps of kung fu flicks of old.

Unfortunately, there was one rather annoying flaw throughout this film that really detracted from the overall experience. Instead of being displayed in the lower black “letter-boxed” portion of the screen, the subtitles used a yellow font and were displayed in front of the footage. This was a very poor choice as half of the text was unreadable as it became indistinguishable against the similar colors of the footage.

Special features included a lengthy behind the scenes component, as well as trailers for Tai Chi O, Kill ‘Em All and Painted Skin: The Resurrection, as well as a trailer for Wu Dang itself.

All in all Wu Dang was a rather enjoyable film. While the subtitle implementation was frankly dreadful, and some of the “serious” moments were slightly dull and boring, each slow part of the film was really just a lead up to a spectacular fight sequence, which is always fine in my books. Fans of Jet Li, Jackie Chan or Bruce Lee will most likely lap up the fight scenes in this movie.

ComicsOnline strongly recommends New Zealand and Australian residents purchase their copies of Wu Dang directly from the Madman Entertainment website.

Rating:

ComicsOnline gives Wu Dang 3.5 out of 5 romantic arena dance-fights between lovers.

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