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Cast:
Sammo
Hung
Cheng
Pei Pei
Fan
Siu Wong
Jade
Leung
Eugenia
Yuan
Tsui
Goh
Action:
Johnny
Cheung
Allen
Lan
Producer:
William
Lan
Director:
Allen
Lan
Score:
 
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FLYING
DRAGON, LEAPING TIGER
AKA:
Dragon Soaring, Tiger Leaping
Year:
2002 Reviewer: Andrew
Saroch
It
was quite a strange experience watching the eagerly anticipated
'Flying Dragon, Leaping Tiger'. Firstly, the cast unites two
stars of yesteryear with two who never quite hit the heights
that their talents promised. In the former category is Hong
Kong legends Cheng Pei Pei and Sammo Hung while the latter two
are Fan Siu Wong and Jade Leung, once seen as the bright new
hopes of the Jade Screen. Added to this intriguing casting is
the various rumours of a film that would attempt to re-create
the style of 'Crouching
Tiger, Hidden Dragon', yet hark back to the glory days of
action choreography. The last point proves to be only half
correct.
A
cowardly double-crossing by a former friend leaves a famed
swordswoman (Cheng Pei Pei) grieving the death of her child at
the hands of her ruthless enemies. The betrayer, Kiu, escapes
the situation, but is racked with guilt for many years to come
while the swordswoman swears to avenge the tragedy. Many years
later, the time seems right to finally take revenge though her
target is now heavily protected by a private army and the odds
seem against her. Joining forces with her is a younger
swordsman (Fan Siu Wong) who loyally swears allegiance to her
cause and agrees to put his life on the line for this mission.
Unfortunately her health is severely hindered when she
receives a potentially fatal blow that gradually begins to
weaker her during her journey of vengeance. As this occurs,
another experienced fighter (Sammo) takes a hot-headed young swordswoman
under his wing and train her in the ways of the martial world.
He also has a connection to the past incident and, on hearing
of the progress of the mission, agrees to help takes on the
army as well. Heavily out-numbered by their foes, the avengers
use their guile to find Kiu and exact what they consider to be
just.
Those
looking to 'Flying Dragon, Leaping Tiger' for the Sammo Hung
of old and expecting the kind of cinematic magic that he so
often presented are certainly going to be disappointed.
Although this has its moments - which will be discussed later
- it hardly signals a return to form for the great man;
however, he is no longer the young athletic star we once all
enjoyed watching so perhaps this is a slightly unfair
criticism. What the production does provide is a competent and
watchable 90 minutes - nothing more, nothing less. In the kind
of film that looks like it was made ten years ago, director
Allen Lan develops a traditional tale with no attempt to
capitalise on the slick style of 'Crouching Tiger, Hidden
Dragon' - this may frustrate those mislead by the title. Lan
makes good use of the harsh landscapes that play such an
important part in the atmosphere and fleshes out the film with
an assortment of reasonable characterisations. He also groups
together the enticing quartet of actors that was mentioned
earlier, a cast that, a decade ago, would have caused ripples
in the Hong Kong box-office. Nevertheless, there's no escaping
that this is nothing extraordinary despite its strengths. The
fight action is thankfully less reliant on wirework than is
the norm, but does have a tendency to become repetitive by the
final minutes. It's also a sombre story that never engages the
viewer as powerfully as was necessary for true enjoyment; the
earnest acting and direction has the negative effect of
distancing the viewer.
Allen
Lan is no Sammo Hung when it comes to direction.
Unfortunately, recent efforts have suggested that this Sammo
is a distant memory that will always be appreciated by fans.
What Lan has given audiences is a hark back to the new-wave
boom of the early-90s that, while never setting the screen
alight, is mostly entertaining.
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