Wushu

There's been a lot of hype about this film, and as a fan of kung fu films I've been looking forward to seeing it. The other thing that made me interested is the director, Antony Szeto, cause I saw his first film Dragon Blade in the theaters. Dragon Blade was a kid's computer animated film but the martial arts action in it is far more superior to the jumping around camera shots used for the fights in Kung Fu Panda. And Dragon Blade had a well thought out story to it, unlike the run of the mill production-line senseless stories that have been coming out of Hong Kong over the last ten/fifteen years. In Wushu, the director again gives us something unexpected, and again a well thought out story. As a family film it has something for everyone and I enjoyed myself throughout it. The story of the kids growing up in a poor single parent family is both touching and current, and I thought the way wushu as a sport was presented was very smart. Sammo Hung's performance as the father and teacher was surprisingly good... he should have got an award for it! Though the fight scenes in it don't number enough to satisfy the die hard action over all else fans, the main fight scene where Sammo comes up against the main bad guy is fantastic edge of the seat stuff. All in all, I laughed at the fun parts, was touched by the father-son relationship, was excited by the action, and amazed by the skills. This film was all out good entertainment... and in the end isn't that what we all pay to watch a film for?