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Undescribable Perfection

Good start, but then it gets ruined

Awesome Movie

I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.

"Tiger & Dragon Reloaded" ("Da Lui Toi", aka "Gallants") is not your average Kung Fu movie. This is more of a down to Earth kind of movie, about the commitment to one's ideals and staying true to what you believe in.Where as there is some fighting throughout the movie, it is not your typical adrenalin-pumping martial arts with lots of young talents, nor is it an impressive display of wire-fu with people flying all over the place. No, this martial arts performed by people who are no longer in their youthful prime. But they still perform quite adequately, nonetheless.The story is about an old martial arts school now turned to a restaurant after the master fell into a coma. And as he suddenly comes out of the coma, his devoted pupils along with a couple of newcomers learn about old traditions and old ideals.Siu-Lung Leung (playing Tiger) and Kuan Tai Chen (playing Dragon) carried the movie quite nicely. But the star of the movie was without a doubt Teddy Robin Kwan (playing Master Ben Law).While it was refreshing to see a martial arts movie of this particular caliber, then the movie wasn't, sadly enough, really that outstanding. Sure, it is good for a single viewing, but it is hardly a movie that can support multiple viewings.

Consider warned that I will be noting a specific climactic plot point that could be considered a spoiler. Until now I have only reviewed movies if I had more to say than "I liked it" or "I didn't like it". This time my motivation is simply because I really, really liked this movie a whole lot. This movie has a magic moment that is so rare but so wonderful when it happens. Without the moment I'd rate it a 6, slightly above average for the genre and date. The moment bumps it up to a remarkable 8 out of 10. So what about that moment? When the fight is over and the loser is laughing the younger guy doesn't get it and the line is something like "You'll get it in about 20 years." Simply put - I get it now. I've been a fan of these movies for a long time and I've practiced martial arts for 35 years. I have all the aches and pains and injuries to prove it. I am not as young or as good as I once was. That's exactly why I get it now and exactly why I liked it so much.

Or school of Hard Knocks? (not the one Jay-Z was singing about mind you) Depending on your back knowledge of Shaw Brothers movies, this might interest you or not. It does offer a nice retrospective and nods to those movies. Or the era in general. Plus it stars a few of the people that were very big back then. (no pun intended) Of course the way it is mixed together will not appeal to everybody and though it does have some philosophical aspects it is too thin in other areas. Plus it does not seem to have a constant flow, changing from humour to seriousness in a second. Which is staying true to some extent, but then again it did update a few things, so why not that one too? All in all you could be almost excused if you thought this was an older movie than it actually is. That was the goal and they achieved it. Nostalgia or not, this is will mostly appeal to a certain group of people. And even they (some of them) might not even like it completely.

Co-winner of the Audience award at the NYAFF this year, this film is a wonderful throw back to the 1970's style of martial arts films but the a twist for 2010 the stars are the older stars of the martial arts films of the 70's.The plot of the film has a young man sent to help a landlord evict some tenants of his properties so they can be turned into something wonderfully new. Along the way he makes the acquaintance of two men running a tea house(it was formerly a dojo) while they wait for their master to awaken from a 30 year long coma. You can guess which side he chooses and you know that with Bruce Leung as one of the old students you know there's going to be lots of fights.As I've said if films are suppose to be about characters then this is one of the best. Full with characters you love, you kind of like the bad guys too, this is one of the best most unexpected films I've seen this year. This is a film that allows you watch people getting beaten up and feel good at the same time.Its magical.Its also not just a martial arts film. This is a film thats for anyone wanting to see a good film. The martial arts is not the reason for the film, just a by product of its location. The film is ultimately about what is family and how we make our own.I can't recommend this film to everyone.Its a blast.And could we please have a sequel? (and a US distributor, apparently this great film doesn't have one.)