“Shanghai Affairs” Chinese DVD Cover
Director: Donnie Yen
Cast: Donnie Yen, Athena Chu, Yu Rong Guang, Woody Chan, Kenji Tanigaki, Yan Yi Shek
Running Time: 90 min.
By Bentley Siu-Lung
Well, I wanted to get this film as I noticed the chinese symbols on the box proclaimed this as the new version of “The Big Boss” (XIN Tang Shan Da Xiong). However, there are very few similarities between the two movies. It is hard to believe that this could only be Donnie Yen’s second directorial work as his techniques in the art of film-making are superb.
The movie itself was rather slow in getting into fights after the opening battle, however, it wasn’t “boring slow”, but “dramatic slow” which I can handle much better! Donnie Yen’s acting is outstanding and his emotions can rival Bruce Lee’s in “Fist of Fury”.
He uses up close “tight” shots in the vital fight scenes and sometimes uses diagonal angles in the tradition of Tsui Hark which I admire being an amateur film-maker. The final battle between Yen and Guang is outstanding, even if it is a tad short. However, Donnie Yen’s super chain-axe twirling trick he uses in the end (that’s all I can say…) was worth the 15 bucks I paid alone!!! This trick was probably an homage to Bruce’s knife kicking trick in the Big Boss, as it has the same type of outcome… (hint, hint)
Anyway, it’s definitely worth a look…
Bentley Siu-Lung’s Rating: 8/10 (As I said, the axe stunt alone was worth 15 bucks!)
