Tsui Hark’s follow-up to the classic Zu: Warriors from the Magic Mountain is a spell blinding feast for the eyes. The special effects are equal anything Hollywood has to offer, but sadly it’s also just as hollow…
Nearly twenty years on from ZU: WARRIORS FROM THE MAGIC MOUNTAIN, Tsui Hark returns to the mythical world of Zu once more to realise his vision in ways that would not have been possible pre-CGI effects. But if the original ZU was one of the most important and influential Hong Kong films of the last three decades, kick starting the ‘new wave’ of films in the mid-eighties, this films importance seems only to prove that Hong Kong can produce a special effects laden epic that is equal in every way to their western counterparts.
As before, LEGEND OF ZU occupies a mythical space and time on the Zu mountain ranges in Sichuan, China, loosely based on Lee Sau-Man’s over 60 volume martial art novel ‘The Legend of the Zu Mountain Warriors’ which ran in the 1920s and 30s. A dream like world of near constant night, propagated with spirits, fairies and demons, immortals with supernatural powers fighting for good and evil. If evil succeeds in destroying good, it destroys our world too.
This second instalment opens on King Sky, played by Ekin Cheng (THE STORM RIDERS, YOUNG AND DANGEROUS, TOKYO RAIDERS), the sole disciple of the Kun Lun Sect as it is destroyed, along with his master and love Dawn (Cecilia Cheung Pak-Chi, FAILAN, TOKYO RAIDERS), by the evil force Insomnia. Two hundred years pass and Insomnia’s power is once again on the rise, and engages King Sky in battle along with a member of the Omei clan, the metal winged Red (Louis Koo Tin-Lok). Unimpressed with this pair, the evil sends them their own ‘personal demons’ – carbon copies of themselves – to fight (in one of the best scenes in the movie).
Head of the Clan, Whitebrows – Sammo Hung Kam-Bo (MARTIAL LAW, EASTERN CONDORS) returning to the role he played in the original film – enters the conflict, defeating the demon but inadvertently allowing him to escape to the Blood Cave where Insomnia will finally gain the power he needs to destroy Zu. Other members of the clan include Enigma (again played by Cheung), a reincarnation of Sky’s master Dawn who cannot remember her previous existence despite his efforts to the contrary, and Thunder (Patrick Tam Yiu-Man, BEAST COPS, THE DUEL) who becomes teacher to Joy, the daughter of a Zu General, played by the wonderful Zhang Ziyi (CROUCHING TIGER HIDDEN DRAGON, THE ROAD HOME, RUSH HOUR 2).
The evil possesses Red, and uses him to attack the Omei sect in another fantastic scene as Thunder tries unsuccessfully to protect his home. For King Sky to have a chance of defeating Insomnia he must first find out how to combine the powers of the mind, the universe and regeneration…
Staying true to the vision he created of Lee Sau-Man’s world in the first film, there’s no doubting LEGEND OF ZU leaves it’s predecessor far behind in the accomplished use of special effects. Indeed, in casting Zhang Ziyi and using Yuen Woo-Ping’s legendary action choreography skills, Tsui seems to be suggesting in these two CROUCHING TIGER collaborators that Hong Kong movies have moved a long way from Ang Lee’s beautifully realised but somewhat archaic view. And he’s right, it has. The seamless melding of Tsui’s trademark hyperactive editing and computer graphics belongs to a new generation of Hong Kong movies – creating many exciting action sequences that not only rival but totally surpass any US equivalent.
Yet the film is flawed. It’s not that there are too many characters, the number of leads in the original was just as great, but you rarely see enough of them and the playing is too anemic to become involved. As the lead, for instance, Ekin Cheng plays his role with such aloof that he becomes impenetrable. Whereas this was a crux of the plot for THE DUEL, the benefits of a greater warmth in his performance can be found in TOKYO RAIDERS. The most interesting characters, Tam and Ziyi’s roles Thunder and Joy and the relationship between them, are hardly played. Shame, since Ziyi’s role as a non-magical character would have given more for the audience to associate with (as Yuen Biao’s role did in the original), and expanded could have taken advantage of her abilities more. Obviously this lady has become pretty busy since CROUCHING TIGER, even RUSH HOUR 2 gave her more to work with.
For the original ZU Tsui invited American special effects technicians over to Hong Kong to teach, instigating a visual effects industry there and eventually founding the Cinefex Workshop. This use of special effects earned him the title of ‘Hong Kong’s Steven Speilberg’, though a comparison to George Lucas seems more appropriate. But Tsui was never completely happy with ZU. It ran over budget and behind schedule so the producers, Golden Harvest, decided to go against his wishes to carry on perfecting the effects sequences and release what they had. The audience didn’t seem to mind – it was the biggest HK box office success that year. Tsui did though, splitting from Harvest and forming Film Workshop where he and other directors like John Woo and Ching Sui-Tung would soon thrive.
Tsui must have seen this as an opportunity to make the film he always wanted to (again paralleling Lucas). This time partly with American funding, ironically from Bob and Harvey Weinstein (Miramax) – presumably to secue it’s release in the States. Ironically, they also produced Quentin Tarantino’s RESERVOIR DOGS (that shameless rip-off of Ringo Lam’s CITY ON FIRE which also borrowed so freely from John Woo and Beat Takeshi). Yet the characters have been lost – a common enough consequence for effects spectaculars in the West, but not for Tsui. Even his previous effort TIME AND TIDE, set in contemporary Hong Kong, used special effects with an even wilder imagination but didn’t let that get in the way of the relationship between the two leads. Perhaps with US backing Tsui intended the performances to be toned down to appeal more to a Western audience. Ultimately it lacks the charm and pure quirkiness of the original.
Despite this, LEGEND OF ZU is a visually spectacular, very enjoyable experience. Somewhat hollow, it’s still more rewarding than most Hollywood films. Watch it for the amazing effects – and to see exactly what Hollywood’s gonna be ripping off in the next few years.
DVD details
Distributor: China Star (Hong Kong)
This is an extremely well produced DVD, with some very nicely designed menus (rather different to the stills we're used to). You even get a choice between Chinese and English versions.
There are plenty of extras, including production sketches and a good documentary that even has English subtitles (how often does that happen?).
The transfer is very good with excellent DTS and Dolby Digital sound, though the source material has minor imperfections. Also the English subtitles are lost for nearly a minute during the film, annoyingly at a crucial moment when what accounts for a plot is explained.
