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Cast:
Nick
Cheung
Vicky
Zhao Wei
Andy
Lau
Ekin
Cheng
Kristy
Yang
Patrick
Tam
Elvis
Tsui
Tin
Sum
Tsui
Siu Keung
Jerry
Lamb
Action:
Ching
Siu Tung
Producer:
Wong
Jing
Manfred
Wong
Director:
Andrew
Lau
Score:
 
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THE
DUEL
AKA:
N/A
Year:
2000 Reviewer: Andrew
Saroch
Although
'The
Storm Riders', 'A
Man Called Hero' and 'The Duel' are stand-alone films, the
three have often been grouped together as an unofficial Andrew
Lau 'trilogy'. All three are well known for their extensive
use of computer effects and wild fantasy action, but whereas
the former two are fairly stern dramas, 'The Duel' adds a
significant amount of comedy to the mix. This proves to be a
good and a bad thing as will later be mentioned.
The
martial world holds two swordsmen up as the greatest in the
world: Snow (Cheng), the powerful, stoic master who is
shrouded in mystery; Yeh Cool-Sun (Lau) an impressive
swordfighter who is distantly related to the royal throne.
After years of enhancing their formidable reputations, the
time comes for the two to hold a duel to finally decide who is
the finest in the land. The date of the duel is set as is the
location - the walls of the Imperial Palace - and the whole of
China is eager to see the contest. Given the responsibility of
issuing official attendance medals to those deemed worthy is
government agent Dragon 9 (Cheung). As the eagerly-anticipated
day draws near, a series of murders occur that turn events on
their head. Dragon 9 begins to piece together a plot to kill
the emperor, but the identity of the person or persons
involved remains hard to discern. However, as various suspects
and those with information are not surprisingly killed, Dragon
9 faces a race against time to find the would-be assassin
before the duel takes place.
Andrew
Lau's usual productions are perceived to be humourless visual
feasts, but this is something that 'The Duel' attempts to
rectify in its casting. Nick Cheung (looking fairly ridiculous
with dreadlocks and pencil moustache) - the star often hyped
to be the next Chow Sing Chi - is cast as the leading man and
injects his usual wisecracking humour to the proceedings.
Cheung lacks the well-defined comic persona that Chow Sing Chi
has and can often be far more annoying than entertaining, but
here his presence is strangely welcome. While Andy Lau and the
barely seen Ekin Cheng play their parts with as little emotion
as possible, Nick Cheung at least enjoys lampooning the
straight-faced drama of the film. The lighter moments of 'The
Duel' make a pleasant change from the two special effects hits
that Lau produced before this. However, the problem is that
the film is very much a hybrid effort and the comedy is ill at
ease with the heavy drama that occurs later on. Therefore this
never gels in the way it could have done and the overlong
duration, featuring a needlessly long ending, verges on
tiresome melodrama. In 'The Duel's favour is the superior
computer effects that appear in the action sequences; the
fantasy sequences are one of the film's major assets and leave
the viewer wanting more. With a clearly impressive budget and
a star-studded cast, it is to be expected that the film is
padded out and not always as engrossing as it should have
been. 'The Duel' , though, is nonetheless a big-budget
spectacular that mostly entertains.
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