Nature: The World’s Most Wanted Animal

They are considered the only truly scaly mammal, but if you are not already familiar with the pangolin, you may not have much time to get to know them. Currently, they are considered the most endangered and most illegally trafficked animals on the globe. However, pangolins have a few friends out there, including dedicated preservationist Maria Diekmann and possibly the most famous woman in the world, Angelababy (trust me, nobody in Hollywood can touch her social media numbers). From Namibia and Vietnam to Hong Kong, activist race to save the pangolin in Victoria Bromley’s The World’s Most Wanted Animal (promo here), which airs this Wednesday on PBS as part of the current season of Nature.

Diekmann is pretty the boots on the ground when it comes to saving the African pangolin in Namibia. She gets the call when authorities recover live pangolins. Even with their scales, they are a surprisingly cute little creature, sort of like armadillos that walk upright on their hindlegs, but with more personality. Tragically, pangolin scales have been a staple of traditional Chinese medicine and there is also demand in Chinese restaurants for their meat. As a result, the Chinese market has largely decimated the Asian species of pangolins, despite the best efforts of Thai Van Nguyen and his pangolin rescue colleagues at the nonprofit Save Vietnam’s Wildlife—and they are fast depleting the African population, as well.

Essentially, Most Wanted is divided into two parts. The first focuses on Diekmann’s work in Namibia, giving special attention to Honey Bun, a pangolin she saved as a baby. The second chronicles Diekmann’s travels in Asia, learning from her Vietnamese colleagues’ experiences and strategizing PR outreach with Angelababy. Clearly, the only way to save the pangolins for the long term is to make the consumption of their products socially unacceptable in the Chinese market. One of the results of their meeting was this stark PSA, posted on her social networks. (For the record, Maggie Q is also a pangolin ambassador, so pay attention.)

Throughout Most Wanted, Bromley and Diekmann definitely drive home the urgency of the situation (which is indeed dire), but the pangolins are still quite entertaining to watch, especially Honey Bun. They are their own best advocates, but it does not hurt to have Angelababy cranking up her star-power. Cinematographers Sue Gibson and Graham MacFarlane also capture some stunning shots of the natural landscapes of Africa and Vietnam. There is actually quite a bit in this film to see—and protect. Highly recommended for the message and the visuals, The World’s Most Wanted Animal premieres this Wednesday (5/23), on PBS’s Nature.

Rise of the Legend: Wong Fei-hung the Early Years

He was played by Jet Li in the Once Upon a Time franchise and Jackie Chan in the Drunken Master series. Other actors taking on the role of Wong Fei-hung include Andy Lau, Gordon Liu, and David Chiang. If you take on the part, you’d better bring you’re A-game, because there are plenty of predecessors to be compared with, going back to the 1940s. Eddie Peng Yu-yen assumes the mantle in a highly fictionalized account of the martial artist’s early years, nicely exceeding expectations in Roy Chow’s Rise of the Legend (trailer here), which opens this Friday in New York.

Abandoned and ailing on the streets of Guangzhou, Wong is nursed back to health by his soon-to-be adoptive father, Wong Kei-ying, a respected physician and martial artist in his own right, with help from his brother (adoptive and sworn), Huo, a.k.a. Fiery. Soon, they form an inseparable foursome with fellow orphans Chun and Orchid, until the latter girl is ripped away by the city’s criminal element.

That would be the rival Black Tiger and North Sea Gangs. Led by the imposing Lei Gong, the latter outfit is probably the more formidable, so Wong temporarily joins their ranks a dozen or so years later. As a reward for dispatching the head of the North Sea Gang (and bringing said head as proof), Lei anoints Wong as his fourth “godson” (in a very “Godfather” kind of way). However, Wong is secretly coordinating with the righteous new Orphans Gang, led by Huo and Chun, relying on Orchid (now a courtesan) as their go-between.

Rise has a reasonably sweeping narrative, but it all boils down to Wong Fei-hung putting fist to gang-member face. Fortunately, action director Corey Yuen keeps things appealingly gritty and old school. He lets them get it on, which is what we want to see.

Peng also deserves serious props. Some viewers might know him more for his romantic comedies or as the dandyish villain in the Tai Chi Zero/Hero films, but he exhibits hitherto unseen steeliness and legit action cred as the early twenties Wong. He really rises to the occasion.

Of course, Master Sammo Hung makes a larger than life villain as Lei. For extra, added gravitas, “Big” Tony Leung Ka-fai dispense wisdom and flashes some moves as the good doctor, Wong Kei-ying. Wang Luodan shows poise and sensitivity as Chun, but Angelababy’s Orchid gets all the juicy dramatic bits, which she makes the most of. As Fiery, Jing Boran also demonstrates some considerable skills, but he is largely overshadowed by flashier characters (nickname notwithstanding).

Rise definitely has plenty of good stuff for fans of martial arts cinema and costume historicals. It is just tragic enough to stay true to tradition, but not to the extent it becomes maudlin. The fight scenes are crisp and energetic, while the period production values are quite high. It is not the ultimate exemplar of the genre, but it is a thoroughly satisfying addition to the Wong Fei-hung canon. Recommended with enthusiasm, Rise of the Legend opens this Friday (3/11) in New York, at the Village East.

Mojin: the Lost Legend—the Other Blockbuster Franchise

It is currently the #2 film at the global box office, nipping at the heels of The Force Awakens. It is also the second adaptation of the bestselling Chinese Ghost Blows Out the Light series of novels. In a weird distribution of rights, one consortium of film companies optioned the first four novels, and another group of partners bought the latter quartet. This is the one starring Shu Qi as American-born Chinese tomb raider Shirley Yang, which partially explains its brisk business. Yang and her associates will shimmy into crypts and flee hordes of zombies in Wuershan’s Mojin: the Lost Legend (trailer here), which is now playing in New York.

Yang, the Byronic Hu Bayi, and the rubber-faced Wang Kaixuan are trained in Mojin, the art of grave “borrowing.” As per their time honored practice, they carefully light a candle in the corner of each tomb they visit. By blowing it out, the tomb’s ghost makes his displeasure known, forcing the trio to leave accordingly. However, if the candle still burns, then its all good. They are in for an exception to the rule. Things will get bad, but Hu and Wang have seen worse during their first subterranean excursion.

Flashing back to the Cultural Revolution, Hu and Wang are sent to Inner Mongolia as part of their re-education. Both fall in love with the comrade Ding Sitian. She is still adorable, even though she believes the revolutionary slogans far more than they do. Through a strange chain of events, they stumble into an ancient tomb. Of course, the cadres urge them to be “true materialists” and “smash the Four Olds.” Unfortunately, in this case, the Olds are not merely ancient. They are undead.

Hu and Wang carry the scars of their backstory. It is why Hu has never properly put the moves on the super-interested Yang. Similarly, the more impulsive Wang will sign up with a dodgy expedition financed Madame Ying, a Chinese born Japanese industrialist and cult leader in search of the mythical Equinox Flower, hoping he can use it to resurrect the late Ding. Putting aside their Tracy-and-Hepburn-esque differences, Yang and Hu set out to save Wang from his bad judgement. Frankly, they cannot completely blame Wang for the ensuing trouble. The whole deal was brokered by their dodgy agent Grill. At least he will quickly cone to regret it.

Believe it or not, Mojin’s narrative probably makes even less sense on screen, but it hardly matters. Wuershan maintains enough breakneck energy and the all-star cast exudes enough raw charisma to keep the film galloping forward, with or without logic. The special effects are Hollywood tentpole quality and the Inner Mongolian vistas are wildly cinematic. This is a big film, in many respects.

Yet, there were apparently risks involved, starting with its very premise. Tomb-plundering is not exactly politically correct in China these days, which reportedly caused more than a little uncertainty during the development process. The scenes set during Cultural Revolution are also a tad bit gutsy, especially when the Red Guards order the young Hu’s detachment to smash the Kitian artifacts.

Shu Qi is one of the few movie stars working today, who can quietly kneecap viewers with a single look (this has been her specialty for Hou Hsiao Hsien, including the recent The Assassin). It must be noted, Shirley Yang is quite the heroine, since it was Yao Chen filling her boots in Chronicles of the Ghostly Tribe, which American audiences have yet to get a good look at.

As Hu, Chen Kun puts his shaggy look and brooding manner to good use, much as he did in Snow Girl and the Dark Crystal. Bo Huang mostly keeps the shtick in check as Wang, but it is fair to say Xia Yu’s Grill lacks his reserve. However, Angelebaby is acutely cute as Ding, while also bringing some tragic depth to their ill-fated romantic interest. Yet, Cherry Ngan shows off some of the best action chops as Madame Ying’s henchperson, Yoko.

At times, Mojin feels like Wolf Totem with zombies in place of the wolves, which is a cool place to be. Some of the broader, more localized humor fails to land, but there is more than enough adventure, supernatural bedlam, and ironic historical references to keep subtitle readers on-board and invested. In fact, viewers will probably be primed for the competing Ghost Blows Out the Light film franchise and Mojin’s inevitable sequels. Recommended for action fans, Mojin: the Lost Legend is now playing in New York, at the AMC Empire.

Black & White: Dawn of Assault, the Taiwanese Buddy Cop Prequel

Harbour City looks Taiwan’s Kaohsiung City, but its governance probably more closely resembles Singapore. Maverickery is not encouraged, especially amongst the police, so it is not surprising “Hero” Wu has been suspended. Of course, that means he is about to stumble across a massive terrorist plot with only a miserable gangster for back-up in Black & White: Dawn of Assault (trailer here), Tsai Yueh-hsun’s big screen prequel to the eponymous 2009 Taiwanese TV series, which releases today on DVD and BluRay from Shout Factory.

Wu might be suspended, but he still can sense when things are not on the up and up. In contrast, lower mid-level Triad Xu Ta-fu has the intuition of burnt toast. When his boss entrusts him for a week with a suitcase full of cash, Xu tries to make a quick score flipping some smuggled diamonds. Unfortunately, his deal goes up in smoke when heavily armed paramilitaries crash the exchange. He survives only due to Wu’s chance intervention. However, the lone wolf cop soon realizes the national SIS (SWAT) team are part of the conspiracy.

It turns out Xu was not merely trafficking in diamonds. The now missing briefcase also contains information necessary for constructing an anti-matter bomb (seriously). Fortunately, computer genius Fan Ning can explain to them the dangerous implications of the weapon devised by her father’s recently deceased protégé.

It is a minor miracle if the paragraph above makes any sense at all. Narrative logic is not B&W’s strength but thanks to Tsai’s breakneck pacing, one hardly notices how preposterous it all is while you are on the ride. Shrewdly, he does not allow his cast a lot of time to chill out and talk. This also limits the opportunities for schtick from Huang Bo, the Mainland star of the Lost in franchise. In fact, he gets downright medieval facing off against Tung, the Triad’s designated psycho killer.

Mark Chao has done some nicely understated work in the past, particularly in Chen Kaige’s Caught in the Web, but he only uses his action chops in B&W, which are pretty convincing. Unfortunately, Angelababy, who was so awesome in Tai Chi Zero, is ridiculously under-employed as Fan Ning, who is too often stuck saying things like “let me email my friends at MIT for help with the decryption.” Terri Kwan has even less to do as the hostess Xu is besotted with, but the NYU grad and model-turned thesp still looks fantastically elegant. However, actor-director Leon Dai steps up and decisively chews the scenery as the shadowy underworld figure, Jabar.

There is one reason to watch B&W—for the action, but at one hundred forty-two minutes (the cut released in Mainland theaters), there is certainly plenty of it. Some of the third act revelations will even baffle fans of the original series (just who are the Pandawa nationalists again?), but there is plenty of hard-charging meathead fun to be had. Recommended for fans of the big name cast and Asian action movies in general, Black & White: the Dawn of Assault is now available on Blu-ray and DVD, from Shout Factory.

Love on the Cloud: Angelababy and Mo Chou the Shar Pei

Screenwriter Sha Guo will write treatments for just about every sort of contemporary Chinese film a doofus character such as himself might appear in. There will be romantic comedy, tragedy, compulsive social networking, and a surprisingly credible haunting. Still, the big question will be whether he gets the girl or the dog, or both, or neither in director-screenwriter Gu Chang-wei’s Love on the Cloud (trailer here) which is now playing in New York.

Sha Guo and his buddies, aspiring cinematographer Ma Dai and would be matinee idol-producer Huang Xaigang, the so-called “Three Dreamers” have just reeled in an investor for their first film, Living with the Werewolf. Ms. Ma the beef magnate just wants a couple script revisions: product placement for her Little Bull company. No problem, they can do that. In this case, “they” means Sha Guo. After a hard session of rewriting, he hits the social media apps looking for a hook-up. Instead, up-and-coming auto-show model Chen Xi exploits his “Sad Shar Pei” handle, suckering him into dog-sitting her furrowed browed Mo Chou. Of course, he agrees, hoping it will lead to bigger and hotter things. However, both Chen Xi’s dog-sitting and Ms. Ma’s rewrites will become a constant in his increasingly frustrated life.

Given its title and genre, HK film fans might assume Love on the Cloud is the next installment in Pang Ho-cheung’s Love in a Puff-Love in the Buff series, but Cherie Yu and Jimmy Cheung will not be breaking up and getting back together again, at least not right now. Cloud is actually Beijing-set and Mainland produced, featuring a star turn from Angelababy. About a billion people already knew the model-turned-actress was a star, but with Cloud she successfully transitions from perky teen roles (Love in Space, All’s Well Ends Well 2010 and 2011) to a legit romantic lead. She smokes up the screen and leaves poor Michael Chen and his hapless Sha Guo looking small and deflated on-screen.

Still, when he is satirizing the Chinese film business with the other two Dreamers, Chen is a good sport, keeping the material remarkably grounded, all things considered, by minimizing the shtick and the mugging. In fact, the entire cast earns props because Gu throws the kitchen sink at them, but never wastes much time on dry, boring transitions. Frankly, it is hard to believe how much of the film works. Even the horror movie segments, necessitated by another batch of rewrites for Ms. Ma, are actually sort of creepy and very true to genre conventions.

Angelababy is radiant throughout Cloud and Chen keeps plugging away, but good old Mo Chou just sort of steals the picture rather effortlessly. The camera loves the Shar Pei, but he never resorts to cheap tricks to look cute. So yes, give the dog credit for subtlety of his performance (would it be going too far to compare him favorably with Meryl Streep’s excessive theatrics in Ossage County? It’d be true.) Regardless, there are enough laughs mixed with Angelababy’s glamour and Mo Chou’s furry charm to keep Cloud chugging along at a good clip. Recommended for those who like a good doggie rom-com with a little bit of an edge, Love on the Cloud is now playing in New York at the AMC Empire.

Tai Chi Hero: Stephen Fung Brings the Family Values

“Pushing Hands” style kung fu is an important Chen family tradition.  For complicated reasons, Chen village is forbidden to teach their kung fu to outsiders.  While they do not break this rule, they bend it considerably in Stephen Fung’s Tai Chi Hero (trailer here), which opens this Friday in New York.

Yang Lu Chan, “the Freak,” sought to learn Chen-style kung fu to balance his karma and counteract the mutant berserker horn on his temple sapping his vital energy.  Of course, everyone said no, but the earnest plodder kept trying.  However, when Yang nearly dies defending Chen village from invaders, the Master’s daughter, Chen Yu Niang, takes pity on Yang, marrying him into the clan.

Initially, it is not much of a marriage, but he sure takes to Master Chen’s instructions.  Yang should most likely live and thrive, but the future of Chen village is soon threatened again.  Teaming up with a rogue British officer and the Chinese Imperial army, Yu Niang’s ex Fang Zijing (a Chen village outsider himself) means to capture Master Chen and his daughter and son-in-law.  They are willing to give themselves up for the sake of the village, but not without a fight, which is spectacular.

In his follow-up to Tai Chi Zero, Fung doubles down on the steampunk trappings, introducing Master Chen’s prodigal son Zai, who never properly paid his kung fu dues, but has these flying machine inventions, a la Da Vinci’s Demons.  While Hero lacks the breakneck lunacy of Zero, it is surprisingly warm and endearing.  This is the family values installment of the franchise, featuring reconcilements between fathers and sons and wives and husbands—and it all works somehow.  Of course, there is also the massive showdown with the Imperial Army.

Jayden Yuan comes into his own as the innocent Yang this time around, nicely portraying the maturation of the Freak’s character and his kung fu. Angelababy does not quite have as much screen time in Hero, which is a pity considering how charismatic she is as Yu Niang.  Still, she has some dynamic action sequences in the big battle and should become a truly international superstar on the basis of her work in the franchise. 

“Big” Tony Leung Ka Fai keeps doing his Zen thing as Master Chen and he’s as cool as ever.  Somewhat bizarrely though, as Duke Fleming, Swedish actor Peter Stormare (who has been reasonable comprehensible in English language features like Fargo and The Big Lebowski) seems to be channeling the sort of weird, affected sounding white-devil heavies of kung fu movie tradition.

Tai Chi Hero is nearly as much outrageous fun as Zero, but it has more heart.  With the final film of the trilogy in the pipeline, Fung’s Tai Chi series should become a fan favorite.  Enthusiastically recommended for martial arts fans, Tai Chi Hero opens this Friday (4/26) in New York at the AMC Empire.

Tai Chi Zero: Stephen Fung Brings the Lunacy

Mastery of the martial arts entails more than just fighting.  It encompasses a spiritually balanced approach to life.  Yang Lu Chan missed those lessons.  An instinctive warrior and physical mimic, he was born with a small horn on his head that turns him into a freakish berserker when given a good smack.  Unfortunately, his rampages have substantially drained his life force.  His only hope to restore his inner equilibrium lies in learning the Chen Style Tai Chi practiced in its namesake village.  However, they do not cotton much to strangers in Stephen Fung’s wildly eccentric beatdown Tai Chi Zero (trailer here), which opens this Friday in New York.

The horned Yang was a child only a mother could love.  He has only ever been good at one thing, but his skills were evident enough to catch the eye of a warlord-cult leader.  Yang fights like mad for his master, but it takes a toll.  After waking up woozy in the makeshift infirmary once again, the doctor advises him to make haste for Chen Village before his horn turns black.  Yet, once Yang arrives, he is informed in no uncertain terms Chen secrets can never be revealed to outsiders.  Of course, the big lug will not take no for an answer, earning him a series of pummelings at the hands of villagers, such as the mysterious Master Chen’s daughter, Yu-niang, who definitely catches Yang’s eye while pasting him silly.  He even gets man-handled by a real life five year old prodigy, who could single-handedly humble the Expendables and their proposed spin-offs.

How do we know she is an actual prodigy?  Because the film identifies each significant cast member with a sample of their credits whenever their characters first appear on-screen.  It might sound distracting, but there is so much madness going on, it is really just another thing to try to process.  Incorporating highly stylized graphics into some of the wildest fight scenes you could ever hope to see (choreographed by action director Master Sammo Hung), Zero does not lack for energy.  It even veers into steampunk territory when Yang and the citizens of Chen combine forces to fight the Troy, the Wild Wild West-esque armored steam engine commanded by Yu-niang’s vengeful ex, Fang Zijing, who lived in Chen for years, but was never allowed to learn their secrets either.

Although actress-model Angelababy is already a huge star throughout Asia, her enormously charismatic performance as Yu-niang should earn her a considerable cult following in the West.  She is nothing less than dynamite throwing Yang about like a rag doll.   It is hard to think of another action star who can be so convincingly cute, tough, and vulnerable, all at the same time. 

As “the Freak,” Changquan Wushu champion Jayden Yuan has an endearing sad sack presence and is always credible in the action scenes.  Tony Leung Ka Fai (a.k.a. “Big Tony” Leung) is clearly enjoying every moment of scenery chewing as the idiosyncratic Master Chen.  Though only appearing briefly as Yang’s mother, Shu Qi is still ethereally striking and always worth watching.  The only weak link is Eddie Peng, whose Fang Zijing is a rather underwhelming villain.  Oh, but wait.  Ending with what is essentially a trailer for the sequel, Zero promises heavier heavies to come.

Zero is so amped up and adrenaline charged, actor-turned-director Fung deserves major credit for maintaining his narrative clarity amid all the commotion.  Indeed, he has a talent for stage-managing insanity.  Visually distinctive and loads of meathead fun, Tai Chi Zero is highly recommended for genre fans when it opens this Friday (10/19) in New York at the AMC Empire.