Storm Warriors opens in cinemas in December
10/24/2009 02:53:00 PM
kenmouse
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Aaron Kwok
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E-Asian
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Ekin Cheng
,
Nicholas Tse
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Storm Warriors
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IT MAY have taken 11 years, but Storm Warriors is looking good. Judging from a 15-minute sneak preview specially set up by GSC Cinemas, the movie looks like a cross between 300 and Sin City (both Hollywood adaptations of Frank Miller’s graphic novels), albeit, set in historical China.
Inevitably, most of what was previewed were fight scenes. These range from frantic close-combat swordplay to unreal qi gong battles involving imaginary swords and energy; all punctuated by 300-esque slow-motion flourishes and vividly animated (and extremely gory) scenes of flying limbs and splattering blood. It was as though the comic book had indeed come alive.
According to Ma Wing Shing, the filmmakers were planning to make Storm Warriors a green screen, CGI-heavy, hyper-realistic picture from the very beginning. Ma, who has seen a good portion of the yet-unfinished movie, reckons the movie feels a lot closer to his comics than the previous one as a result.
“The first thing the directors told me is that they wanted to make it like 300. They didn’t want it to look too realistic, but more like a comic book coming to life,” he said.
According to producer Alvin Lam, Storm Warriors is not a direct sequel to Storm Riders, as in, it can stand entirely on its own. “We wanted to make it in a way where people can watch this movie without having to watch Storm Riders first,” he said during an interview in Kuala Lumpur recently.
Ma concurred, saying one should not compare Storm Warriors with its predecessor. “Andrew Lau’s (director of Storm Riders) style was brighter and easier on the eye. The style of the Pang brothers is darker, and best suited to the story they chose.”
The story in question is Death Battle, which directly followed Cloud and Wind’s original story in the comic (which was also the story used for Storm Riders). It starts off with powerful Japanese warlord Lord Godless (Simon Yam) invading China with his son Heartless (Nicholas Tse) and, Cloud and Wind going up against him with the help of a legendary swordsman, known simply as No Name (Kenny Ho Kar Keng).
Along their travails, Wind’s hereditary “demon’s blood” is activated and Cloud must fight him to try and prevent Wind from turning into a world-breaking demon.
Ma’s role in this movie was more of a consultant on the screenplay.
“The directors are better at the filmmaking part, so I try not to interfere with that. All I can do is advise them on the most important points in the story, and highlight some of the characters, and maybe some of the fighting moves that would be popular among fans.”
One of the moves that could not be left out was No Name’s most powerful sword stance – “Man Kim Guai Zhong” (Million Swords Return Home), in which he controls thousands of swords with his qi (energy). The move was shown during the preview, and the results are spectacular indeed.
“The move was supposed to be in the first movie, but was left out. It is a move that is very popular with readers, and I’m happy that with the computer technology today, they were finally able to do it justice,” he said.
Ma’s biggest concern on Storm Warriors was the casting – he was adamant that Ekin Cheng and Aaron Kwok return to reprise their roles as Wind and Cloud, respectively.
“The most important thing in a movie about a comic book is its characters. If they are not convincing, the movie would be a failure,” he said. “Eleven years ago, Aaron and Ekin played the roles extremely well, so I felt that if we did not bring them back (for Storm Warriors), it would already be a failure.”
Any concerns that the two actors would be too old for the roles were dismissed by the artist.
“My concept of Cloud was someone with a tortured soul, and Aaron resembles the actual comic Cloud more today than he did 11 years ago. He is less baby-faced, and looks more mature and manly now,” said Ma.
“As for Ekin, he was more carefree in the first movie, but it will be more challenging for him this time around because he has to turn evil.”
Storm Warriors opens in cinemas in December.
Inevitably, most of what was previewed were fight scenes. These range from frantic close-combat swordplay to unreal qi gong battles involving imaginary swords and energy; all punctuated by 300-esque slow-motion flourishes and vividly animated (and extremely gory) scenes of flying limbs and splattering blood. It was as though the comic book had indeed come alive.
According to Ma Wing Shing, the filmmakers were planning to make Storm Warriors a green screen, CGI-heavy, hyper-realistic picture from the very beginning. Ma, who has seen a good portion of the yet-unfinished movie, reckons the movie feels a lot closer to his comics than the previous one as a result.
“The first thing the directors told me is that they wanted to make it like 300. They didn’t want it to look too realistic, but more like a comic book coming to life,” he said.
According to producer Alvin Lam, Storm Warriors is not a direct sequel to Storm Riders, as in, it can stand entirely on its own. “We wanted to make it in a way where people can watch this movie without having to watch Storm Riders first,” he said during an interview in Kuala Lumpur recently.
Ma concurred, saying one should not compare Storm Warriors with its predecessor. “Andrew Lau’s (director of Storm Riders) style was brighter and easier on the eye. The style of the Pang brothers is darker, and best suited to the story they chose.”
The story in question is Death Battle, which directly followed Cloud and Wind’s original story in the comic (which was also the story used for Storm Riders). It starts off with powerful Japanese warlord Lord Godless (Simon Yam) invading China with his son Heartless (Nicholas Tse) and, Cloud and Wind going up against him with the help of a legendary swordsman, known simply as No Name (Kenny Ho Kar Keng).
Along their travails, Wind’s hereditary “demon’s blood” is activated and Cloud must fight him to try and prevent Wind from turning into a world-breaking demon.
Ma’s role in this movie was more of a consultant on the screenplay.
“The directors are better at the filmmaking part, so I try not to interfere with that. All I can do is advise them on the most important points in the story, and highlight some of the characters, and maybe some of the fighting moves that would be popular among fans.”
One of the moves that could not be left out was No Name’s most powerful sword stance – “Man Kim Guai Zhong” (Million Swords Return Home), in which he controls thousands of swords with his qi (energy). The move was shown during the preview, and the results are spectacular indeed.
“The move was supposed to be in the first movie, but was left out. It is a move that is very popular with readers, and I’m happy that with the computer technology today, they were finally able to do it justice,” he said.
Ma’s biggest concern on Storm Warriors was the casting – he was adamant that Ekin Cheng and Aaron Kwok return to reprise their roles as Wind and Cloud, respectively.
“The most important thing in a movie about a comic book is its characters. If they are not convincing, the movie would be a failure,” he said. “Eleven years ago, Aaron and Ekin played the roles extremely well, so I felt that if we did not bring them back (for Storm Warriors), it would already be a failure.”
Any concerns that the two actors would be too old for the roles were dismissed by the artist.
“My concept of Cloud was someone with a tortured soul, and Aaron resembles the actual comic Cloud more today than he did 11 years ago. He is less baby-faced, and looks more mature and manly now,” said Ma.
“As for Ekin, he was more carefree in the first movie, but it will be more challenging for him this time around because he has to turn evil.”
Storm Warriors opens in cinemas in December.
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