It was only a couple days ago that Al alerted us to the casting announcement for Jeff Lau's Robot/Kungfu Cyborg Attraction [tenative - dear god let it be tenative]. It turns out that Wu-jing.org was on the ball a few days earlier than the CRIENGLISH report and has a lot more details about the characters and the story and... well... the general mish-mash of genres that Lau in trying to incorporate into his film.
Kung Fu Cyborg Attraction is about the battle of good vs evil between robots, showing their self-redemption in the process. As the film contains various elements that run the gamut from romance, comedy to kungfu, each actor in the film has their own mission. Wu Jing will do the fighting, Ronald Cheng will tickle your funny bones, while Hu Jun, Alex Fong and Sun Li will add romantic touches to the film.
Kung fu, Comedy and Romance between five characters? It sounds like it is on the brink of being convoluted but if Lau has found the proper balance between all the characters and his film is well paced then there should be no reason why KFCA shouldn't be a general crowd pleaser. But, this is the same guy who made A Chinese Tall Story, itself a very messy and confounding film. You can find each character's description after the break.
Unlike earlier reports that suggested that Lau's film was going to be about giant robots this report suggests that they are androids instead, though there will be giant robots in it.
Director Jeffrey Lau adds that some androids in this film are capable of transforming, turning into very large armored robots. They have even created robot replicas of Wu Jing and Alex Fong, mimicking their expressions and movements possibly using motion-capture. A climatic battle will see Wu Jing and Alex Fong fighting each other, with Alex Fong doing Bruce Lee impressionism, only to be squashed as he's just an empty vessel. Director Jeff Lau expresses great confidence in Wu Jing, spending 12m yuan on his scenes. Not only has he created an ornate 2m gargantuan blade for Wu Jing, but will also pit Wu Jing against a gigantic CGI robot. This imaginary robot stands 20m tall, and Wu Jing has been suspended on wires, flitting about, slashing at nothing but air with the huge, heavy blade, spraining his wrist a few days ago.
Consider me cautiously... no, not optimistic, just cautious then. But hey. Wu Jing doing the fu! That's a good thing, right?
Hu Jun plays a sheriff - a normal human - who is later modified into a Robocop. Hu Jun says that what makes his cybernetics part special is that it allows him to morph into different things at will. For example, his head can turn into a chopper. The film affords him a new endeavor as he's shedding his hardy image to play someone is more tender.
Sun Li plays an adopted sister of Hu Jun who falls for robot Alex Fong, "The character I play is in love with an android, it's a very moving type of love, very special, also very paradoxical, very different from what I've done before."
Alex Fong plays a newly created national android with AI and emotions, "In games, I can control the robots. But in Kung fu Cyborg Attraction, I've turned into a robot instead. This kind of sensation is very different, and interesting."
Since director Jeffrey Lau wishes to create a kung fu robot film, it's mandatory to find a comparable martial arts exponent for the film, the onus of which falls upon Wu Jing, playing an android that has taken the wrong path, but eventually turns over a new leaf. Wu Jing, as the most advanced android, one which can think like humans, and best fighting machine, wields a 2m long gigantic blade. His wushu skills enhanced with CGIs will create a brand new image, an oriental robot with Chinese kung fu.
Playing a cranky teacher, Ronald Cheng, responsible for cracking jokes in the film, has an even weirder look in Kung fu Cyborg Attraction, "I'm not a robot, but a robot wannabe, so I make myself very odd, even wearing a commode."
hopefully it won't turn out as another Power Ranger Movie.