In a Nutshell. Mini reviews of movies old and new. No fuss. No spoilers. And often no sleep.

Tuesday 19 July 2016

Legendary Amazons (2011)

Amazons surprised me in a really, really good way. It's a retelling of the Yang Family story that I expected to be as bland and formulaic as most of the other "epic" movies about kingdoms at war that China makes these days, the ones that play it safe by recreating boring Peter Jackson-esque battle scenes over and over. What I got was partly that, but also a wonderfully rich throwback to an era of Asian action cinema that I absolutely LOVE: the martial arts action of the early 1990s. It's a compromise, there's still some weak-as-shit CGI and dodgy green screen moments, but the fantastical is there, the beautiful costumes, the amazing wire work, the sense of fun, the fake horses and even the insane editing style of those halcyon years!

4 citizens of Song out of 5

No comments: