Reign of Assassins (2010)

[Drunken Monk]

Synopsis

428AD, Bodhi, a Southern India prince became a Buddhist monk and set off for China, earning a hallowed reputation as a mystical martial artist. Following his death, his remains mysteriously disappeared.

 

Hundreds of years later, Zhang, a high-ranking court official, is assassinated by Drizzle. Zhang's son Jingxiu, whilst mourning his father's death, is assailed by a group assassins. They leave him for dead, but somehow he survives and escapes their clutches.

 

Drizzle, a talented warrior herself, finds herself in possession of Bodhi's remains, and begins her quest to return them to their rightful resting place at Yunhe Temple. The Black Stone, a team of deadly assassins who employed Drizzle, are also after the remains and the powerful secret they hold. To hide from The Black Stone, Drizzle undergoes drastic facial surgery and changes her name to Zeng Jing (Michelle Yeoh). She flees to Beijing, where she meets and falls in love with Jiang, soon to become her husband.

 

After a confrontation in Beijing, Zeng Jing's identity is uncovered and both she and Jiang must flee for their lives. As Zeng Jing kills off members of the gang while they are on the run, she quickly realises Jiang is actually Jingxiu, and he is seeking to avenge his father's death. This leads to a lethal triangle and a fight to death between our hero Zeng Jing, Jiang and The Black Stone.

 

The only question remains who will be the last ones standing to uncover the secret of Bodhi's remains?

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I have yet to watch either parts of "Red Cliff" but the idea of John Woo directing a modern Wu Xia movie starring Michelle Yeoh really tickles my fancy. I'm hoping Woo has put his "Paycheck" days behind him and really begins to carve himself some modern masterpieces.

Looking forward to this one.

[KUNG FU BOB]

I'm psyched for this too. I love Michelle Yeoh, and other than a few stinker moments, I really enjoyed RED CLIFF a lot. The second time I saw it, it was the edited version, but I wanted the chance to see those action scenes on the big screen in a theater, and I'm so glad I did!

[kaleyboy]

I too think this is quite an interesting looking movie. Given John Woo's background, I think it's a-given that he knows what's needed to make a great action movie, but I think he knows enough about martial arts movies to avoid the obvious cliches. Let's hope it turns out good, and not too much of a wire-fest.

[Drunken Monk]

I just read that John Woo is only producing this, which I'm a little upset about, as I would love to see him go all out and venture into a full martial arts film. It's being directed by Su Pao-Chin.

Some more stills, with Michelle Yeoh looking elegantly beautiful as always...

[Drunken Monk]

So this is now called "Reign of Assassins." It looks like there is plenty of wire work involved but I like the strong element of traditional Wuxia it has in the fight scenes.

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Did anyone notice similarities to "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" in the night time fight scene?

[daisho2004]

Just the fact you got Jung Woo-Sung & Michelle Yeoh in this movie is enough to want to see it!

[LittleDragon]

Its always good to see Michelle Yeoh great skills and beauty..

[daisho2004]

When is this suppose to be released?

[sysifos]

According to IMDB they are still filming and no release date seems to have been announced. However the imdb-page was last updated in October last year so that might have changed by now.

[Drunken Monk]

The trailer has been officially released...

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[daisho2004]

Cannot wait to see this movie!

[The Silver Fox]

I don't know, I'm kind of burned out on these epic,historical dramas. Red Cliff,The Warlords,Battle of the Warriors, Empress and Warrior, 14 Blades,Bodyguards and Assassins etc.

While I enjoyed most of these I can't help noticing an almost insane amount of commie propaganda and such militant nationalism that it is off-putting. It seems like the money is in the mainland and they are dictating the rules to film makers. There is a noticeable edge that is missing in all these films too-sure there is violence but it's like alot the daring and craziness that initially drew me to Asian films is lacking. Everything seems overly santized and muzzled.

Even Hong Kong films that have come out in the last few years seem lacking in that kinetic excitement of 80's-90's. After the takeover in 97 it didn't seem like there was much of a difference in HK films but if you look now-the red hand has all but choked the life out the industry.

Just thinking out loud, not trying to be divisive it is just something i've noticed in watching and studying these films for a long time.

[nectarsis]

Looks like a def winer to me...can't wait.

[June]

14 Blades 2?

[Cesare]

I don't know, I'm kind of burned out on these epic,historical dramas. Red Cliff,The Warlords,Battle of the Warriors, Empress and Warrior, 14 Blades,Bodyguards and Assassins etc.

While I enjoyed most of these I can't help noticing an almost insane amount of commie propaganda and such militant nationalism that it is off-putting.

*sigh*

Not suggesting that the above listed films are subversive or anything (they definitely aren't - epic historical dramas rarely are) and I quite agree that the censorship in PRC stifles the creativity considerably and on many levels - but I'm really tired of people seeing "insane amount of commie propaganda" in anything Chinese that goes along with the collectivist ethos and Han nationalism/chauvinism.

(Like Hero, for example. Many people labeled it as "communist propaganda" and thought they were being insightful. *rolleyes*)

Now, seriously - with Hero I can sort of understand, but it takes a lot of simplification to see an "insane amount of commie propaganda" in Red Cliff or The Warlords.

The ethos that prevails in those films had been an integral part of Chinese elite culture centuries before Marx - let alone Mao - was born.

[The Silver Fox]

Quote..." and I quite agree that the censorship in PRC stifles the creativity considerably and on many levels..."

Well, we are talking movies, so creativeity is the main thing. How can a filmaker thrive when he has party officials dictating,financing, and even controlling distribution of the movie?

The real cutting edge movies from Asia are coming out of South Korea and Japan. Places were there is a degree of freedom in the creative arts. Without freedom you have blandness, which is what I'm seeing in Chinese films of the last few years.

Yeah, 'The Founding of the Repubic' isn't heavy handed at all. Jet Li,Jackie Chan,Andy Lau and many other top stars appearing in a film celebrating 60 years of communist rule. I think it is pretty clear who is running the show.

How come so many movies coming out of HK always have to take place before 1997-it's like they are saying,crime,triads,drugs-these things happened under British rule,now that we are in control these unseemly events don't happen.

[GoldenPigsy]

Like Hero, for example. Many people labeled it as "communist propaganda" and thought they were being insightful. *rolleyes*

It's only not insightful because it's so violently fucking obvious. It was labeled that way not because some people lack insight, but because "Maoist/PRC propaganda" is as correct and fitting a label as "wuxia pian."

I do agree with you that Red Cliff, The Warlords, and (especially) The Empress and the Warriors are pretty far afield of "insane commie propaganda," but if you don't think that the censor board approves themes of Han/Confucian collectivism for their own ends, then you're underestimating the intelligence of the censors or maybe overestimating their interest in preserving artistic freedom.

[Cesare]

...underestimating the intelligence of the censors or maybe overestimating their interest in preserving artistic freedom.

Neither. I'm simply pointing out that in Chinese milieu, "communist" becomes a fairly complex label and that people in the West are too fond of using that label without taking the broader picture into consideration.

As for Hero - sure it's perfectly in tune with the dominant discourse, but glorification of this kind of self-denial as well as the adherence to the opinion that unification of China was an inevitable thing as well as the best possible solution to the mess that were the Warring States - those are both very old tunes. Viewing that film simply

as "communist propaganda" is a tad too simplistic and not entirely fair.

BTW - gotta add that in my humble opinion, this collectivist ethos that Chinese rulers have always been so fond of is not necessarily a bad thing.

Yeah' date=' 'The Founding of the Repubic' isn't heavy handed at all. Jet Li,Jackie Chan,Andy Lau and many other top stars appearing in a film celebrating 60 years of communist rule. I think it is pretty clear who is running the show.[/quote']

Still haven't seen that one (but I have watched Iron Stream 1949 and enjoyed the hell out of it - it was made for CCTV and it was a hoot - kinda like the "Green Military Uniform" video stretched to full feature length) - but films that were made to celebrate PRC's 60th birthday are something of a special category, don't you think.

Yeah, there's censorship in PRC. Yeah, the big budget epics have to go along with the official line of thought (that applies pretty much anywhere, but in PRC more so than elsewhere - no point in denying that).

But "insane amount of commie propaganda"? C'mon...

I happen to be very fond of all kinds of propaganda, from posters celebrating the Red Guards to Stargate SG-1 - I think I know what an insane amount of communist propaganda looks like - and it doesn't look like Red Cliff.

[The Silver Fox]

Actually Red cliff is the perfect example of what I'm talking about-a whirlwind of insane commie propaganda,shall we say: a bloated, quasi historical epic replete with revisionist history, full of nauseating one dimensional heroism and moments of saccharine blathering .

This template seems to be the order of the day. These are the kinds of films that are saturating the market. These are the kinds of films the govt is sponsoring. I quite enjoyed Red Cliff for what it was even though it should have come with a barf bag for part 2.

[GoldenPigsy]

Actually Red cliff is the perfect example of what I'm talking about-a whirlwind of insane commie propaganda,shall we say: a bloated, quasi historical epic replete with revisionist history, full of nauseating one dimensional heroism and moments of saccharine blathering .

Do you feel the same way about Chang Cheh's films? That's what Red Cliff most resembles. I fail to see how this is commie propaganda. Could you be a bit more specific with what makes one dimensional characterization and dialogue inherently pro-communist?

Neither. I'm simply pointing out that in Chinese milieu, "communist" becomes a fairly complex label and that people in the West are too fond of using that label without taking the broader picture into consideration.

As for Hero - sure it's perfectly in tune with the dominant discourse, but glorification of this kind of self-denial as well as the adherence to the opinion that unification of China was an inevitable thing as well as the best possible solution to the mess that were the Warring States - those are both very old tunes. Viewing that film simply

as "communist propaganda" is a tad too simplistic and not entirely fair.

Uh... yeah... and no. Yes, the unification of the Chinese states was inevitable. That doesn't absolve Qin Shi Huang of (among other things) murdering scholars and burning books. Hero claims that it is about forgoing revenge for the sake of the greater good, but it's actually a story about trading chaos for tyranny -- about unity at the cost not only of personal identity or satisfaction, but several hundred scholars, countless works of art and learning, and entire schools of thought and philosophy.

Everybody knows that Qin Shi Huang was a tyrant, just as everybody knows about Tank Man and the cultural revolution. Only one person has defended one as a proxy for the other, and that man is Zhang Yimou. Yes, there is a collectivist ideal expressed in Confucianism, which is why Confucius was made. Yes, there is a collectist ideal behind Lou GuangZhong's characterization of Shu as a "Land of Virtue," which is why Red Cliff got made. That's why the censor board approves them. I agree with you that labelling them as "commie agitprop" isn't terribly nuanced or precisely correct.

The difference between them and Hero is that Hero is an actual apologia for tyranny. And that's not cool.

BTW - gotta add that in my humble opinion, this collectivist ethos that Chinese rulers have always been so fond of is not necessarily a bad thing.

I agree, at least in the sense that it shouldn't be a bad thing. But evil is always just a corruption of something good. There have been more than a few wicked, wicked Chinese rulers.

[The Silver Fox]

Quote " Do you feel the same way about Chang Cheh's films? That's what Red Cliff most resembles. I fail to see how this is commie propaganda. Could you be a bit more specific with what makes one dimensional characterization and dialogue inherently pro-communist?"

I'm more willing to tolerate all the brotherhood and self sacrifice themes in Chang Cheh's films simply because they are more entertaining than Woo's films. I find the plots in Cheh's films are pretty arbritary and easy to ignore and one can enjoy the films simply on a visceral level. I find Woo tends to linger on the whole brotherhood theme alot more in his films and I find it tiresome and overdone.

I don't find Red Cliff resembles a Cheh film at all. One thing Chang Cheh films had is heart. That is missing from a big film like Red Cliff. It isn't about individuals, but rather some sort of greater ideology that is being sold.Even the box art says..."changes to face of China forever..' gee, where have I heard that before.

I never really meant to use Red Cliff as some sort of example of propaganda, I just happened to mention it in a list of recent films that are all kind of the same-cookie cutter epic rubber stamped for public consumption. I've bought them all so I feel like I have a right to criticise them if I want.

[Cesare]

Uh... yeah... and no. Yes, the unification of the Chinese states was inevitable. That doesn't absolve Qin Shi Huang of (among other things) murdering scholars and burning books. Hero claims that it is about forgoing revenge for the sake of the greater good, but it's actually a story about trading chaos for tyranny -- about unity at the cost not only of personal identity or satisfaction, but several hundred scholars, countless works of art and learning, and entire schools of thought and philosophy.

Well, you got a point with Hero as an apologia for tyranny and I will have to rewatch it to be able to comment on the film as such...

As for the history stuff:

The unification might have not been as inevitable as Chinese historians like to think. Very strong regional identities and loyalties evolved in the warring states in those few centuries prior to unification. Without Shang Yang, Fan Sui and their benefactors, it all might have been different. Given the sense of common "Zhou" idenity, some kind of unification was likely to occur, but it just as well might have been a different process, with different results.

And as for poor old Ying Zheng... Everybody knows he was a tyrant because Sima Qian told us. And Sima Qian was a Han scholar, loyal to Han dynasty and considerably biased. Confucian historiography has always given the Qin a lot of bad press.

Now I am not implying that Qin Shihuang was a benevolent ruler. Heck, no. But ever since Han, he was both emulated AND maligned.

...the burning of books - yes, there was an attempt to get these things under control and dangerous books were confiscated. However, Qin Shihuang probably never intended to destroy them. That damage was probably done by Xiang Yu when he burned Xianyang to the ground.

Qin Shihuang presented himself pretty much as a Confucian ruler - and while he couldn't have been half as benevolent as he made himself out to be, he probably wasn't that strict, hardcore legalist that we tend to imagine these days.

Burying of scholars was a very unfortunate episode - but most of them were likely magicians and masters of esoteric arts - and Qin Shihuang's issues with those were likely not of political nature... (After all, when Fusu defended them, one of his arguments was that those people were good Confucians - although that might be Sima Qian trying to paint the crown prince in a more positive light.)

To sum it up, yes, Qin Shihuang was too slow to switch from "warring states mode" to "unified empire mode" in terms of administration, law and economy - and his unification policies (admirable feat, by the way) were not exactly a matter a consensus, he just painted the whole empire Qin. He used the same methods to conquer and to reign and that was neither smart, nor nice.

But he was more than simply a tyrant - and I wouldn't let his undeniable flaws and blunders get in the way of recognition of his achievements and virtues.

Gotta run to work, no time to edit, sorry for any bad grammar or spelling mistakes.

[GoldenPigsy]

Quote " Do you feel the same way about Chang Cheh's films? That's what Red Cliff most resembles. I fail to see how this is commie propaganda. Could you be a bit more specific with what makes one dimensional characterization and dialogue inherently pro-communist?"

I'm more willing to tolerate all the brotherhood and self sacrifice themes in Chang Cheh's films simply because they are more entertaining than Woo's films. I find the plots in Cheh's films are pretty arbritary and easy to ignore and one can enjoy the films simply on a visceral level. I find Woo tends to linger on the whole brotherhood theme alot more in his films and I find it tiresome and overdone.

I don't find Red Cliff resembles a Cheh film at all. One thing Chang Cheh films had is heart. That is missing from a big film like Red Cliff. It isn't about individuals, but rather some sort of greater ideology that is being sold.Even the box art says..."changes to face of China forever..' gee, where have I heard that before.

I never really meant to use Red Cliff as some sort of example of propaganda, I just happened to mention it in a list of recent films that are all kind of the same-cookie cutter epic rubber stamped for public consumption. I've bought them all so I feel like I have a right to criticise them if I want.

I'm not questioning your right to criticize, but I think that what you're saying is maybe a bit tendentious.

Well, you got a point with Hero as an apologia for tyranny and I will have to rewatch it to be able to comment on the film as such...

As for the history stuff:

The unification might have not been as inevitable as Chinese historians like to think. Very strong regional identities and loyalties evolved in the warring states in those few centuries prior to unification. Without Shang Yang, Fan Sui and their benefactors, it all might have been different. Given the sense of common "Zhou" idenity, some kind of unification was likely to occur, but it just as well might have been a different process, with different results.

And as for poor old Ying Zheng... Everybody knows he was a tyrant because Sima Qian told us. And Sima Qian was a Han scholar, loyal to Han dynasty and considerably biased. Confucian historiography has always given the Qin a lot of bad press.

Now I am not implying that Qin Shihuang was a benevolent ruler. Heck, no. But ever since Han, he was both emulated AND maligned.

...the burning of books - yes, there was an attempt to get these things under control and dangerous books were confiscated. However, Qin Shihuang probably never intended to destroy them. That damage was probably done by Xiang Yu when he burned Xianyang to the ground.

Qin Shihuang presented himself pretty much as a Confucian ruler - and while he couldn't have been half as benevolent as he made himself out to be, he probably wasn't that strict, hardcore legalist that we tend to imagine these days.

Burying of scholars was a very unfortunate episode - but most of them were likely magicians and masters of esoteric arts - and Qin Shihuang's issues with those were likely not of political nature... (After all, when Fusu defended them, one of his arguments was that those people were good Confucians - although that might be Sima Qian trying to paint the crown prince in a more positive light.)

To sum it up, yes, Qin Shihuang was too slow to switch from "warring states mode" to "unified empire mode" in terms of administration, law and economy - and his unification policies (admirable feat, by the way) were not exactly a matter a consensus, he just painted the whole empire Qin. He used the same methods to conquer and to reign and that was neither smart, nor nice.

But he was more than simply a tyrant - and I wouldn't let his undeniable flaws and blunders get in the way of recognition of his achievements and virtues.

Gotta run to work, no time to edit, sorry for any bad grammar or spelling mistakes.

No worries, you're grammar and spelling are fine.

I don't really want to dig real deep into the history here, especially on this particular subject, where we would simply be guessing as to motivations of a historical figure based on (arguably biased) histories that I'm unable to read in their original languages.

I didn't mean to discount your (or Silver Fox's) opinion. I agree that we need to be careful with slinging words like "commie propaganda" around. It's just that I also think that Hero fits pretty well into that.

Back on topic: I think Rain of Swords looks very okay. Michelle Yeoh is just lovely.

[Drunken Monk]

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[Maz]

http://ent.sina.com.cn/m/c/2010-08-16/21263053648.shtml