WongJing Tagged Articles at Cinematical

Opening in Hong Kong this week is a movie that sounds like James Bond but may play closer to Austin Powers. On His Majesty's Secret Service (Dai noi muk taam 009), written and directed by the prolific -- and wildly fluctuating in quality -- Wong Jing, stars Louis Koo, Barbie Hsu, and Sandra Ng in a 'nonsense' comedy that is set in a historical period, long before British secret agents began drinking martinis.

Andrew Mack of Twitch found a plot description at Far East Films: "The secret service has been responsible for protecting the Emperor for generations ... Amongst the current group, Zero Zero Dog (Louis Koo) is considered to be the weakest as he shows no interest in the martial arts and spends his time studying technology and creating inventions. When Dog stumbles upon an evil plot to kill the Emperor by the chief eunuch ... he decides to prove everyone wrong and vanquish the enemy himself."

Louis Koo can play strait-laced and frantic equally well, so he's well-suited for the lead role, and I'm a big fan of Sandra Ng's comic abilities, so I'll look for this when it hits (legal) import DVD shelves, probably in a few weeks. If you're like me and don't speak or understand Cantonese, the verbal wordplay will remain a mystery, but this one may have enough silly, physical stunts and gags to make up for it. [ Hat tip to Love HK Film. ]

Watch the trailer for On His Majesty's Secret Service after the jump!

Indonesian Insanity. A young man from a small rural village goes to a big bad city, rescues a girl, and engages in serious butt-kicking. Ring any bells? The upcoming Merantau may sound like an Indonesian Ong Bak, but the success of any martial arts film depends entirely upon the execution. Judging from the official trailer, which arrived this weekend courtesy of Todd Brown at Twitch, I'd say that Merantau is an excellent contender for this year's action crown. Written and directed by Gareth Evans, the film stars Iko Uwais and showcases the silat discipline of martial arts. You can watch the gorgeous, high-def trailer and find much more information at Twitch.

Translated Japanese. Sony Pictures has acquired the rights to Blood: The Last Vampire, Chris Nahon's live-action adaptation of an anime series that I remember as pretty darn good. "Demons have infested the earth," says the official synopsis. "And only one warrior stands between the dark and the light: Saya (Gianna Jun), a half-human, half-vampire samurai." Nippon Cinema has the new trailer for the film, which is reportedly due in theaters this summer. The effects-heavy flick looks like it could be a cheesy disaster -- complete with the lead actress speaking English phonetically -- though I hope it meets the minimum standards of entertainment.

In the US, we've got vampires coming and going -- the great Let the Right One In came out a couple of weeks ago, and the much-anticipated Twilight is due in just over two weeks. In Hong Kong, prolific filmmaker Wong Jing got a horror-comedy version of the classic Chinese hopping vampire into local cinemas just in time for Halloween. As producer and writer, he filled the cast of The Vampire Who Admires Me with beautiful real-life models (JJ Jia, Ankie Beilke, Maggie Li, Tanya Ng) wearing bikini tops and a police station's new female boss (Jo Koo) shoehorned into a tight olive tank top as her official uniform. What else do you need?

Kozo at LoveHKFilm says that something more than "a slapped-together script, lazy situations and unfunny jokes" would have been nice. To be fair, he suggests the models-turned-actresses should be given a pass for their "unremarkable acting" and commends director Cub Chien (frequent colloborator with the Pang Brothers), who "shows some flashes of talent in his handling of this otherwise unremarkable film, and the whole ultimately lives up to the expectations that one has for a Wong Jing horror-comedy. That is, one expects it to be stupid, lazy, forgettable, and hopefully sometimes fun." Ouch!

Unfortunately, this title seems rather typical of Hong Kong's film output in recent times: not very good, but not as bad as it could have been. Chances of North American release: 0%. Chances of English-friendly DVD release: 100% (in Hong Kong by the end of the month, I'm guessing, ready for export to reputable merchants worldwide).