Genre: Fantasy, Martial Art
Starring:
Aaron Kwok
Ekin Cheng
Sonny Chiba
Kristy Yang
Shu Qi
Release year: 1998
Language: Cantonese
Subtitle: English (hardsub)
SYNOPSIS:
Lord Conquer (Sonny Chiba) is a great and mighty warlord who wants to take over the world. To do so, he must defeat another warrior named Sword Saint (Anthony Wong); but the battle is prophesized to take place in ten years. Lord Conquer's servant, Mud Buddah, says that he can make himself invincible by then if he can make two certain children into his disciples. Those children are Whispering Wind (Ekin Cheng) and Striding Cloud (Aaron Kwok). But Lord Conquer discovers that if Wind and Cloud were to unite against him, they could overthrow him. He tries to avoid this by marrying his daughter Charity (Kristy Yang) to Wind. Cloud intervines and Lord Conquer accidentally kills Charity. Meanwhile, the time has come for Lord Conquer's duel with Sword Saint. He shows his true intentions by turning against Cloud and Wind.
RATING: 8/10
REVIEW:
"...Without a doubt the most eagerly anticipated flick in recent HK history, this adaptation of Ma Wing Shing’s popular comic book Fung Wan is a solidly entertaining, if somewhat hollow spectacle. Boasting the best special effects ever seen in a HK flick, this two-hour martial arts and swordplay extravaganza is basically a Zu: Warriors for the new millennium, or an HK version of Star Wars. This is an old-fashioned wuxia reframed with modern storytelling techniques. Fung Wan manages to take us to another world, which is one of the things that movies - when they’re not engaging our hearts and minds- should do...
...“Cloud is unpredictable. Wind is formless.” This line from the film pretty well describes the acting. Aaron Kwok fares the best, showing intensity and a physical presence necessary for his role as Cloud. Ekin Cheng is exceptionally bland - his acting limits are extremely apparent next to Kwok. The guy just isn’t a proper wuxia hero. It’s no wonder that Chastity was fooling around with Cloud behind Wind’s back.
Support is varied, but the numerous cameos and big-name supporting parts make up for any fault in the lead casting. Especially notable are Anthony Wong as Sword Saint, Alex Fong as Whispering Prince, and Roy Cheung in an against-type role as a Shaolin monk. Shu Qi shows up as Muse, official love interest, and she’s as winning as ever. Towering over everyone is Japanese actor Sonny Chiba (The Street Fighter), who hams it up relentlessly as the power-mad Lord Conquer.
Andrew Lau and Manfred Wong do a decent job of providing summer movie fun. On the negative side, the plot is terribly convoluted and there are far too many characters. Knowledge of the comic book would probably be helpful as much of the film is guaranteed to lose the casual viewer. The much-vaunted SFX are impressive by HK standards, though they’re nothing compared to your average U.S. blockbuster. The film leans a bit too much on the effects, perhaps expecting them to carry the film where good choreography usually should. That approach yields an almost soulless product - you can practically see the potential for a Happy Meal promotion.
This is a comic book though, and it plays out exactly like one from the stunning visuals to the frankly hokey dialogue and situations. Take this major line: "With a heart as clear as ice, the sky may fall and I won't fear..." That type of contrived poetic platitude is a perfect example of what The Storm Riders is all about. It’s a lot of posturing - all sound and fury, signifying nothing. But it’s pretty cool sound and fury."
Source: LoveHKFilm
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