| White Vengeance (2011) |
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| Director: | Daniel Lee |
| Writers: | Daniel Lee |
| Starring: | Leon Lai, Feng Shaofeng, Anthony Wong, and Andy On |
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The Plot: White Vengeance is a historical epic that centers around a real incident that was known as “The Banquet of Hongmen.” This story centered around two opposing generals, Xiang Yu (played here by Feng Shaofeng) and Liu Bang (played by Leon Lai), who came together under the illusion that the two would be making amends, but in reality the entire event was made in the hopes of assassinating Liu Bang. These two were originally brothers as they attempted to put an end to the Qin Dynasty, but when it came time to choose a new direction for the country – these two were unable to come to terms. In the film, these two forces are on the verge of war, and although they politically maneuver around the issue, everyone knows that it is only a matter of time before these two must battle. |
| The Review |
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The action within the film is spectacular, there’s no getting around it. Huge and vastly dramatic, one look at these action set-pieces is enough to blow minds. Although the movie does take advantage of heavy digital effects, the film never becomes bogged down by them to such a degree that it becomes distracting. Such distractions have become a common occurrence in the new wave of wuxia epics. Although the CGI is certainly noticeable here, sometimes worse than others, the majority of the effects are used in an attempt to make the battle scenes seem bigger than they are. The aerial views in particular are fluffed out with duplicate warriors on horses, and although this all seems obvious, there are good intentions behind these scenes. Quite frankly, the CG isn’t that bad, but such shots are indeed noticeable. However, when the battles are shown in their up-close form, only the choreography and the action seems to stand out. As someone who is not a massive fan of wire work in his choreography (though I can tolerate it), I was also surprised and happy to find that many of the fight scenes take place in much more realistic surroundings. The swords are heavy in White Vengeance, and when they are swung they are done so with mean intentions. Along with these realistic swords, the acrobatics of the fighters are kept to a minimum. While the film does feature single men taking on entire armies, while also slinging their sword and knocking back ten other warriors, the fight sequences are so fierce that the exaggerations do not stand out or seem hokey. In fact, the brutality of the choreography sells the exaggerations in a very believable way.
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| The Conclusion |
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