The blending of vast sets and digital effects is not quite seamless in Chow Hin Yeung’s period extravaganza “Rise of the Legend,” but it’s close. Revisiting the story of Wong Fei Hung, a martial arts master whose life has passed into Chinese folklore, “Legend” takes place in 19th century Guangzhou, where two crime factions vie for control of the docks. This movie’s Guangzhou is a marvel: sprawling, detailed and abounding in narrow alleys and vivid street scenes.
Alas, the plot and subplots are variations on time-honored Hong Kong cinema devices: the young Fei — played as an adult by Eddie Peng — grows up training alongside Fiery (Jing Boran); both pine for the same woman, Chun (Wang Luodan), a minder of street waifs. Fei, a formidable warrior, is adopted by the kingpin Lei Gong (kung fu movie veteran Sammo Hung), only to subvert his empire. When Chun and Fiery lead an insurrection and torch Lei Gong’s opium dens, furious but graceful brawls — orchestrated by the renowned fight choreographer Corey Yuen — erupt.
Peng has charisma, though his moves are less convincing than those of an earlier Fei: Jet Li, in Tsui Hark’s 1991 classic “Once Upon a Time in China” — and less humorous than those of Jackie Chan, who played Fei in “The Legend of Drunken Master,” aka “Drunken Master 2,” from 1994. But “Legend” does offer the hefty authority of Hung, who at 64 can still — almost — hit, kick and do wire work with the best of them.
Photo: Wikimedia Commons
照片：維基共享資源
(New York Times, Andy Webster)
在周顯揚的功夫片《黃飛鴻之英雄有夢》中，大場面和數位特效的結合雖然並不完美，但也很接近。影片重溫了武術大師黃飛鴻的故事，他的人生已經成為中國人的民間傳奇。故事發生在十九世紀的廣州，兩個匪幫爭奪碼頭的控制權。片中營造的廣州令人讚歎：雜亂無章、充滿細節，到處都是狹窄的巷子與逼真的街景。
影片的劇情與分支劇情都是源自歷史悠久的香港電影：年輕的黃飛鴻（成人後由彭于晏飾演）從小和赤火（井柏然飾）一起習武；兩人都愛上了阿春（王珞丹飾），她照顧著很多街頭的流浪兒。黃飛鴻是個武功高強的武士，被幫會頭目雷公（功夫片老將洪金寶飾演）收養，但他最後卻摧毀雷公的鴉片帝國。後來阿春和赤火發起了一場暴動，燒毀了雷公的鴉片存貨，於是激烈卻又優雅的打鬥就發生了（由著名編武者元奎設計）。
彭于晏很有個人魅力，不過他的武術動作不像以前飾演黃飛鴻的那些演員們一樣令人信服：比如徐克一九九一年的經典之作《黃飛鴻》中的李連杰；而且也不像成龍在一九九四年的《醉拳二》裡飾演的黃飛鴻那麼幽默。但是《黃飛鴻之英雄有夢》確實展現了洪金寶的技藝高超，六十四歲的他還能拳打腳踢，大部分吊鋼絲的工作都是親自完成。
(紐約時報／翻譯：董楠)
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