house of flying daggers (2004)

original title: Wo Hu Cang Long

STUNNING VISUALS WILL DAGGER DEEP INTO YOUR MEMORY

House of Flying Daggers is Yimou Zhang's follow-up film to his 2002 masterpiece Hero. Set in China during the reign of the Tang dynasty, a rebellious association by the name of 'The House of Flying Daggers' stand up against a corrupt government. Police officer Jin (Takeshi Kaneshiro) is sent by his superior Leo (Andy Lau) to investigate a suspicious blind dancer by the name of Mei (Ziyi Xhang) who is suspected of being a member of the 'Flying Daggers'. After a dangerous confrontation, officer Leo arrests Mei only for officer Jin to break her out in an attempt to win her trust in hope that she will lead them to the leader of her association. However; along the way, we soon discover that things aren't exactly as they seem and what was first thought to be an easy mission turns out to be a complicated turn of events.

There are two things that make this film what it is and that's the spectacularly beautiful cinematography and the gorgeous fighting choreography. Cinematographer Xiaoding Zhao has created some of the most stunning visuals you are likely to see on film. Most, if not all scenes in this film will leave you breathless, it's practically an orgasm for the eyes. Then there’s the battle choreography which is astonishing. Each fight is performed like an awe-inspiring Olympic dance that is deserving of a gold medal.

Unfortunately, the other elements of the film don't provide the same quality and precision as the cinematography & battle choreography.

The plot is paper-thin and easily predictable, you can guess every twist coming from a mile away. Music is used far too often with little effect, silence and sound FX can generate more emotion than an overused score (take the very last scene for an example). Finally, the relationship between characters and the emotion they portray never really feels genuine.

If the above elements were given the same attention as the cinematography or choreography we would be looking at a 5/5. But regrettably, it feels like Yimou Zhang focused too much on making the film look beautiful rather than fleshing out a strong story with compelling characters.

A good movie that could have been great. Worth watching solely for the visuals alone.

★★★☆☆

26 SEPTEMBER 2018