Wu-Shu : the " artistic " action movie...

[Itsunari 2000]

Anyone with an interest in cinema , whether you be a regular Saturday night moviegoer or devoted film fan ( ie. readers of Empire , FILM etc.) will no doubt be aware of the arrival of a " new breed " of action movie onto the big screen.
The release of Crouching Tiger , Hidden Dragon in 2000 was heralded as the champion of the " wu-shu " genre spawned by the Chinese film industry - spectacular fight scenes , stunning imagery and acrobatic stunts against the backdrop of Imperial China captured the imagination of moviegoers the world over. More recently however , 5th generation Chinese director Zhang Yimou has continued to champion the genre with the phenomenal success of Hero in both Eastern and Western cinemas.

Far removed from the crude kung-fu films that dominated the Hong Kong film industry in the 70's and early 80's , the wu-shu genre represents true artistic vision from the most brilliant minds in the Chinese film industry - however these are not purely arthouse fanfare. The spectacular and often intensely choreographed fight scenes are an impressive sight to behold , though admittedly exaggerated, visually outdo anything Hollywood has produced within the past 5 years. This is how action movies should be made.

The wu-shu genre and it's champions are obviously a new force that cannot be ignored , even by the most devout fans of the all-American Hollywood action movie.

Discuss the success of these movies and their impact upon the directing world.

[SomethingBig]

Personally, I like them. Iron Monkey is one of my favorite action movies and I love watching the things the action stars do. However, I prefer Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan's traditional kung-fu style.

[Skogs]

If they didn't fly, I'd enjoy them a lot more. All of the other exaggerations don't bother me and in fact are pretty cool, but when I see them flying about the place, I can't help but think, 'well, this is just a bit silly, really'.

[DeBlayde]

yeah. the flying is a bit silly. but Crouching Tiger was based off a poem. I think the surreal-ness of the thing contributed greatly to it.

besides.

according to legend, there are techniques that will allow one to do every single thing they did in Crouching Tiger. not the kind of thing taught to Qui-Lo or Gaigen, though.

[BatChao]

I think it's actually called 'wuxia'...

I've seen a lot of wuxia pictures before... some are good, some are utter crap. I actually think the term refers to the setting of the movie rather than the why it's filmed. You'll see a lot of different styles of wuxia.. from generic action ones (One Upon a Time in China seris) to more artsy kinds (Hero). It's not really right to say it's how an action movie should be made... a lot of wuxia movies suck. House of Flying Daggers, for example, sucked... mostly because of Zhang Yimou's idiotic directing/editing... but also because the story is incredibly lame. So all in all, wuxia is cool, but not the epitome of action movies in any way.

[Itsunari 2000]

I think it's actually called 'wuxia'...

I've seen a lot of wuxia pictures before... some are good, some are utter crap. I actually think the term refers to the setting of the movie rather than the why it's filmed. You'll see a lot of different styles of wuxia.. from generic action ones (One Upon a Time in China seris) to more artsy kinds (Hero). It's not really right to say it's how an action movie should be made... a lot of wuxia movies suck. House of Flying Daggers, for example, sucked... mostly because of Zhang Yimou's idiotic directing/editing... but also because the story is incredibly lame. So all in all, wuxia is cool, but not the epitome of action movies in any way.

I've actually still to see House of Flying Daggers - as far as I'm aware the reviews were generally positive. You wouldn't recommend it ?