cover


Rating:

5


Year of release: 2004

Genre: action/romance/comedy

Director: Wilson Yip

Action director: Ma Yuk-Sing

Stars: Cecilia Cheung, Francis Ng, Andy On, Hui Siu Hung, Patrick Tang, Kitty Yuen, Suet Nay, Liu Lei, Huang Xiao Xu, Dunn Siu Fung

Rated IIA for mild violence


VCD Information

Company: Universe

Format: widescreen

Languages: Cantonese, Mandarin

Subtitles: Chinese/English electronically printed on lower part of picture

Extras: trailers

Notes: Not much to complain about here -- the VCDs even have menu screens.


Related links:

Francis Ng biography
Movie Review index
Main Page

The White Dragon

The White Dragon

In The White Dragon, Cecilia Cheung plays the title character. She's a pretty schoolgirl who is given super kung fu powers by the campus maid in order to stop a blind assassin named Chicken Feathers (yes, that is his name) who is portrayed by the venerable Francis Ng. Good old "C.F." (as the subtitles call him) has been assigned to kill a prince White Dragon is engaged to (played by Andy On), so she sets out to find Chicken Feather's weak spot and kill him. During a battle, White Dragon's leg is broken, so she is taken in by Chicken Feathers, who respects her honorable motives. While she is recuperating, White Dragon develops feelings for Chicken Feathers and must decide whether to protect her husband-to-be or pursue a romance with the mysterious hitman.

I really don't know what to make of The White Dragon. It starts off as a dopey Wong Jing-esque comedy (complete with toilet humor and video game-inspired sequences) and then turns into a fairly serious romantic picture (with the mandatory slow-motion ballad scene), all the while still having the pretenses of a wuxia film (foes battling while flying along treetops). Sure, genre-mixing is almost a given in Hong Kong movies, but something about The White Dragon just didn't sit quite right with me, and the film as a whole felt a bit flat as a result.

The White Dragon

Though if I was pressed to do so, I would probably say that The White Dragon's biggest stumbling point is Cecilia Cheung. She has proven in work like One Nite in Mongkok that she's capable of a strong performance, but her work here is sub-par. During the comedic scenes, Chueng resorts to the screeching style of acting that makes most people retch, and it's hard to take her seriously during the fight scenes. Even with the aid of doubles, wires and CGI, I just can't buy that little 98-pound Cecilia is capable of kicking serious ass. She does show promise in a couple of her scenes with Francis Ng (who does a solid job as always), but those moments are few and far between.

Still, I did at least somewhat enjoy The White Dragon. It's not a great movie by any means -- in fact, The White Dragon is pretty much straight-up generic in every sense of the word. But the movie looks nice, moves along at a good clip, and Francis Ng somehow makes even the most vapid Hong Kong fare watchable. For those looking for ninety minutes of harmless fluff to waste away a rainy afternoon, The White Dragon is probably right up your alley.

The White Dragon