Cannes 2011: First Teaser For Peter Chan's WU XIA Impresses

by Todd Brown, May 15, 2011 8:40 PM

[Updated with English subtitled version.]

It seemed a very safe bet that Peter Chan's Wu Xia was going to be a visually gorgeous picture. After all, Chan is one of Hong Kong's leading directors - and has been for ages - and he had a handsome budget and stellar cast anchored by Donnie Yen and Takeshi Kaneshiro to work with here. But it's still nice to have those early assumptions confirmed.

A film that began life as a remake of Shaw Brothers classic The One Armed Swordsman - and nods to that fact by including original star Jimmy Wang Yu in the cast here - Wu Xia will soon premiere out of competition in the midnight lineup in Cannes. Here's how they describe it:

In the late Qing Dynasty, LIU Jin-xi is a papermaker and father of two sons who lives a seemingly normal life with his family in a remote village. However, the arrival of a detective soon threatens to tear them apart...

You know how I describe it? Yummy. Check the trailer below.

Video

12 Comments

by xino, May 10, 2011 6:36 PM

Donnie Yen again!?

this guy is on fire man!

the way he riddled that guy's blood vessel to his pressure to his heart:)

i think Yen wants to make as much martial arts movies as possible before retiring.

by JoeInTheBox, May 11, 2011 2:10 AM

Is this no longer a remake of One Armed Swordsman? I didn't notice a single person with one arm, nor many swords for that matter.

Bob Violence replied to comment from JoeInTheBox, May 11, 2011 3:15 AM

The story goes that this was supposed to be a remake co-directed with Teddy Chan, but that the original plans fell through due to rights issues and (according to one version) a dispute between Teddy and Peter. Peter now claims that he never intended to remake it -- just to do a sort of homage -- and there's apparently still a chance that Teddy will go ahead and remake it himself.

by Cuttermaran, May 11, 2011 3:57 AM

The roof scene looks amazing.

by Cuttermaran, May 11, 2011 4:04 AM

by Agent Wax, May 11, 2011 4:06 AM

Sorry to say, I don't see anything at really impressive about the teaser. 'Epilepsy-inducing', 'schizophrenic', perhaps. But no, not 'impressive'. I expect teasers to be teasers, not merely a flipbook made out of screenshots from the movie.

by M@rc, May 11, 2011 8:33 AM

Didn't expect it to look like Mortal Kombat...

by Karlos, May 11, 2011 8:50 AM

Here's hoping it's better than THE LOST BLADESMAN - and, indeed, pretty much every other film Yen has churned out in the past few years.

I admire the sheer hard work he's putting into trying to make his mark on every type of MA flick and he himself is every bit as impressive an on-screen martial artist now as he ever was, but he's just spreading himself way too thin.

xino replied to comment from Karlos, May 11, 2011 10:03 AM

really agree!

I hate to admit it but I wasn't blown away by Lost Bladesman...felt too much like 14 blade but much better.

So far Donnie's latest movies haven't been great.
I mean they have amazing fighting but the story and overall package isn't something I would keep on bluray and rewatch over again.

Ip Man is the latest and his best movie yet
Ip Man 2 was good but too much like Ip Man 1 and did not bring anything new
14 Blades- Daniel lee says it all:/
Legend of Chen Zen- great fight but overall package was not good enough
Lost Bladesman- good movie, really slow

Donnie is great and wants to make lots of movies before retiring, but that doesn't mean he needs to make low rated movies man:/

by DooK, May 11, 2011 11:20 AM

You guys have too much expectations and preferences over other stuff to really enjoy anything. Blah... =P

- Ip Man - Great

- Bodyguards & Assassins - Decent

- 14 Blades - Good

- Ip Man 2 - Great (similar to part 1 but with Brits as villains, Donnie shows more acting range here though and the action is more gratifying imo)

- Legend of the Fist - decent story/acting, great action

- All's Well Ends Well 2011 - Donnie's moments are the highlight but otherwise a worthless sequel in the long-running franchise

- The Lost Bladesman - Haven't seen the whole movie but the action rocks, the best weapon fights produced since the mid 90s.

billydaking replied to comment from DooK, May 12, 2011 6:53 PM

All's Well Ends Well is pretty much a weak franchise to begin with. They've simply become a tradition where they cram as many current stars in as possible.

But I agree for the most part...in fact, I'd say the only real misstep that Donnie's taken since SPL is Legend of the Fist. His other films have ranged from good to great.

And, from my view, 14 Blades is a very good movie. Sure, the fights aren't awesome like some Donnie's other recent work, but they're more than solid and they're supposed to be fantasy based anyway. It's an excellent early 90s wuxia done up modern style.

by Mishima, May 11, 2011 12:53 PM

No wonder the Weinsteins loved it.

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