7 Assassins (2013)
When social unrest plagues a Kingdom in ancient China, the Imperial Court collects stockpiles of gold from local governments to expand the royal army. However, the gold is robbed while in transport. In a desperate move to retrieve the stolen treasure, elite royal guards are sent on a mission to go after the gold but soon find out they are not the only ones in pursuit of it.
Watch Trailer
Cast
Similar titles
Reviews
As Good As It Gets
It's a movie as timely as it is provocative and amazingly, for much of its running time, it is weirdly funny.
A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.
The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.
This movie was one of those, that I've tried so hard to love. It has one hell of a cast, and I am crazy for kung fu movies. The trailer was awesome... and that was something that made me crave to see it. Unfortunately I did. Let me start by saying that, the cast is majestic. That equals to a fantastic acting from almost all the characters. The scenery is also beautiful, with bright colors, and fantastic outdoors.And even if the story, itself, was not original, was still very good to follow. But...... The "wire-fu", normally, is well accepted in this kind if movies. And, if not exaggerated, it tends to turn the movie to a faster pace, and that is very good... but, in this movie, the "wire-fu" seems exaggerated... more overwhelming...and that "kills" a little bit, in the action scenes. There's also a bit of confusion in the director's head: he seems to be lost in what genre he would like to work, if western, if epic kungfu, and that is a turn-off. After seeing almost 75% of the movie, I turned it off. There's no real pace in it.It's to bad, because, like I've said, the cast is huge and fantastic, and the movie deserved so much more.
Seven Assassins has been getting a lot of negativity since its release, but I have watched it a few times now and still find it very entertaining. Sure, I see the negative things going on there, but this is due to director and star Hung Yan Yan not being a solid director, and his random moments of wire-fu action that seems out of place among the rest...Apart from that, 7 Assassins is a pretty damn good homage to the 60's and 70's golden generation of Hong Kong cinema.It's big on sets, big on sweeping action, and most of all, big on cast!In fact, big is the wrong word. Its huge on cast!Main cast players are producer and comedian Eric Tsang, Hung Yan Yan, Drunken Master 2 star Felix Wong, Gigi Leung, Max Mok, Michael Wong and more. With extended cameos from legends such as Ti Lung, Jason Pai, Chen Kwan Tai, Mars, Dick Wei, Ken Lo, Simon Yam, Kara Hui, Leung Kar Yan, Fung Hak On, Waise Lee, Lawrence Ng and many, many more.This reason in itself is worth the price of viewing. It reminds of the little seen but amazing 80's classics, The Raid (Sammo Hung, Andy Lau, Anita Mui) and End Of The Road (Tony Leung, Ng Man Tat, Rosamund Kwan).The big bad guy of this film, who also starred in End Of The Road,is Ray Lui who really pulls off the nasty, kung fu prince that takes no prisoners.Seven Assassins may not be perfect. The fights, until the fantastic end battle, are more realistic than well choreographed, and yes, there will be moments of those that the use of wires will make you cringe, but don't let that put you off.A beautiful movie that deserves a bigger audience and is almost epic in its own right.