Wushu

Starring: Sammo Hung, Wenjie Wang, Yachao Wang, Phoebe Wang

Synopsis:

As children, brothers Li Er and Li Yi are sent to a Wushu academy and finally reunited with their father, who is the school’s head teacher, following the death of their mother. As they begin their studies, the two brothers make strong bonds of friendship with Fang Fang, Xiao Zhang and Xiao Yi, and remain so right into their teens, when they all compete in a competition to be part of the National Wushu team. The group of friends face a number of challenges, including a nefarious gang who are kidnapping local children…

Review:

Wushu is a very strange viewing experience, and will require a certain amount of patience from the viewer before it reveals it’s treasures. The opening is a prime example, as it is very flatly filmed. The scenes where the young kids meet and become friends is pretty tedious. However things improve immeasurably when we reach a scene where the characters morph from child to young adult.

The funny thing about the film is that there is hardly any dramatic tension within the group of friends. They are all incredibly supportive of each other, even their rivals and opponents show nothing but respect for each other’s abilities. It is quite unlike any sports-based movie you’ve ever seen, and I couldn’t help but wonder if this was in itself a form of state-sanctioned propaganda: “of course all our athletes get along famously – don’t yours?”. Thankfully there is a group of dastardly child-kidnappers at hand to raise the pulse a little.

Even here, where the stakes are raised quite a bit and serious deadly threat is introduced, I couldn’t help but feel that this was a martial arts movie as written by Enid Blyton. These guys could be the Chinese Famous Five. Of course, wush being a sport, none of the CFF have had to use their skills in anger before but soon become quite adept. There’s a great baddass moment when the chief villain, having decimated one of Sammo’s kids earlier, suddenly has to face off against the big man, and the fight is excellent, fast and furious from start to finish.

The group of teens are athletes first, actors second, but most have a natural presence in front of the camera. Where they come alive though is when they get to perform their wushu techniques. And, it has to be said, these performances are spectacular and devoid of any CGI assistance.

I was a bit worried at first that Sammo Hung’s role was going to be purely as a father/mentor giving out sage advice just when the kids need a lift, but thankfully he’s brought up to speed on the kidnapping scam and heads up the rescue attempt. That the head kidnapper was once a student of his makes things even meatier. As he proved in Ip Man 2 recently, Sammo is still capable of kicking all our butts thank you very much.

Verdict:

If not for the kidnap sub-plot, Wushu would be a very bland affair peppered with some outstanding displays of Wushu in the competition. Director Antony Szeto also choreographed the fight scenes and did an admirable job, especially with Sammo’s fight.

6 out of 10 (MikeOutWest)

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