Fridae

Even though a full decade has passed in between Storm Riders and Storm Warriors, the entire storyline is still fresh in my mind – thanks to an improbable week in Secondary School where I actually read the entire comic book series, despite my borderline grades in Mandarin.

That works out in my favour, because this Pang Brothers flick drops us right into the end of what must have been a rather exciting whirlwind conquest of China by Evil Warlord “Lord Godless”, played by Simon Yam in classic baddie mode. The imperial court has been subverted, Emperor walks about in chains, the entire superhero/wuxia faculty has been subjugated, its surviving members awaiting execution, and Lord Godless is just a perfunctory bureaucratic procedure away from crowning himself the king.

Normally, for the sake of holding the interest of the audience, creating entertainment and telling an effective story, no director would begin the movie at the point the Pang brothers have chosen. They’re banking however on two things to hold our interest: Wind’s transformation into a demonic force in order to subdue Lord Godless, a team of Bangkok-based animators armed with the same CGI software that was used to create 300.

In other words, Storm Warriors is much more of a visual and CGI fest than its predecessor, to the point where the visual effects take centre stage, and take command of the plot, storyline and acting. Ekin Cheng, Aaron Kwok, and Simon Yam are not just simply the characters they portray in this fantasy pic. Literally possessed by their costumes and character designs, their performances offer handy acting tips for cosplay fetishists amongst our readers.

It must be hard with all that blue-screening and green-screening, because Simon Yam seems to just grunt through his role, exuding a tenth of Sonny Chiba’s charisma, megalomania, and menace from the first movie. On the plus side, the 300-side CGI, with its slow motion action sequences, do add a lovingly intimate feel to the balletic epic showdown between best pals Wind and Cloud in the final act. There might not be Rain-sized abs, but your mind too will go crazy at the umpteenth shot of sweat dropping from Aaron Kwok’s forehead to the tip of his glistening, huge sword...