Saviour of the Soul

Rating:
Summary: Incredibly Sylish and Dynamic Fun
Review: "Saviour of the Soul" dazzles with gorgeous design, incredible action, and a surreal storyline set in its own comic book universe. A heady mixture of japanese manga, chinese swordplay, and runway fashion, this film is easily one of my favorite Hong Kong films. The plot in these movies is usually convoluted, but this film takes that trend to dizzying heights. The story somehow manages to encompass a vengeful assasin, three extremely well-dressed crimefighters, a mysterious preistess, a wanna-be pirate, twin sisters, a schoolgirl crush, unrequited love, vengeance, and broad humor. The fights are incredible, staged with tons of panache and complete disregard for the laws of physics. Weapons used include swords, exploding knives, gas that makes you intangible, bullets that suck the air out of rooms, and a yo-yo. Every element of the film is beautifully designed, from the sets to the costumes to the weapons. The rich, saturated cinematography makes it all look that much better. Unfortunately, this DVD is extrememly bare bones, lacking even basic chapter stops, and the image has occasional compression artifacts. The print also has some dirt and scratches. This still looks worlds better than the VHS release, however. Action fans with a taste for the unusual should find plenty to enjoy in this delightful movie.

Rating:
Summary: Incredibly Sylish and Dynamic Fun
Review: "Saviour of the Soul" dazzles with gorgeous design, incredible action, and a surreal storyline set in its own comic book universe. A heady mixture of japanese manga, chinese swordplay, and runway fashion, this film is easily one of my favorite Hong Kong films. The plot in these movies is usually convoluted, but this film takes that trend to dizzying heights. The story somehow manages to encompass a vengeful assasin, three extremely well-dressed crimefighters, a mysterious preistess, a wanna-be pirate, twin sisters, a schoolgirl crush, unrequited love, vengeance, and broad humor. The fights are incredible, staged with tons of panache and complete disregard for the laws of physics. Weapons used include swords, exploding knives, gas that makes you intangible, bullets that suck the air out of rooms, and a yo-yo. Every element of the film is beautifully designed, from the sets to the costumes to the weapons. The rich, saturated cinematography makes it all look that much better. Unfortunately, this DVD is extrememly bare bones, lacking even basic chapter stops, and the image has occasional compression artifacts. The print also has some dirt and scratches. This still looks worlds better than the VHS release, however. Action fans with a taste for the unusual should find plenty to enjoy in this delightful movie.

Rating:
Summary: Sets a screen on fire
Review: Heavenly King Andy Lau gives a rather corny performance in "Saviour of the Soul", and yet this movie still manages to be striking. An excessively melodramatic romance that proves a typical theme - the one that says, "Love never dies." Another Heavenly King on the screen, Aaron Kwok, is reason enough to buy this film. Aaron plays the "bad guy" - the only "bad" role he has taken in his acting career - and he brings creativity and stirs emotion of the audience through his performance. Why is the word "bad" in quotes? Simply because the film's perspective favors the character of Andy Lau, however if put in Aaron's shoes, he did what he had to do.

This film grips you in the beginning, may get you tear-eyed in the middle, and by the time it's over, you'll be impressed. Even through Andy Lau's solo kung-fu performanes, this movie is not in the kung-fu genre. However, fight scenes were absolutely shocking and extremely original with nice camera angles, sound effects, costumes, and kicks from Aaron Kwok and Andy Lau. Fight scenes could have pleased an audience more by being longer and in more occurence, but like I said, "Savior of the Soul" is not a kung-fu movie. Andy Lau and Aaron Kwok (top performers in Hong Kong) work together again to fill the screen with swords, kicks, romance, tears, and more.

Get this film. You won't regret it. - Priscilla

Rating:
Summary: Sets a screen on fire
Review: Heavenly King Andy Lau gives a rather corny performance in "Saviour of the Soul", and yet this movie still manages to be striking. An excessively melodramatic romance that proves a typical theme - the one that says, "Love never dies." Another Heavenly King on the screen, Aaron Kwok, is reason enough to buy this film. Aaron plays the "bad guy" - the only "bad" role he has taken in his acting career - and he brings creativity and stirs emotion of the audience through his performance. Why is the word "bad" in quotes? Simply because the film's perspective favors the character of Andy Lau, however if put in Aaron's shoes, he did what he had to do.

This film grips you in the beginning, may get you tear-eyed in the middle, and by the time it's over, you'll be impressed. Even through Andy Lau's solo kung-fu performanes, this movie is not in the kung-fu genre. However, fight scenes were absolutely shocking and extremely original with nice camera angles, sound effects, costumes, and kicks from Aaron Kwok and Andy Lau. Fight scenes could have pleased an audience more by being longer and in more occurence, but like I said, "Savior of the Soul" is not a kung-fu movie. Andy Lau and Aaron Kwok (top performers in Hong Kong) work together again to fill the screen with swords, kicks, romance, tears, and more.

Get this film. You won't regret it. - Priscilla

Rating:
Summary: WONDERFULLY REDICULOUS
Review: If you liked "The Heroic Trio" and "The Exectioners," you'll probably like "Saviour of the Soul." It has the same kind of comic book texture while being somewhat more understated (however much that's possible in a Hong Kong Cinema film). Anita Mui plays an assasin who's being hunted by another professional killer called Fox who wants revenge for Mui's blinding of Fox's mentor. Mui has several colleagues who come to her assistance and beyond that, this film is quintessential Hong Kong Cinema in that you just have to see it to believe it. Mui herself puts on a nice demonstration of her acting abilities (as well as her legs) playing a dual role of twin sisters. Beyond that, I'd only add that there's a nice number of fights, especially Andy Lau's sword duel with Fox and the younger member of Mui's troop is a teenage tomboy whose love of baseball makes for some interesting and innovative martial arts (I personally haven't seen baseball skills used as martial arts since the New York gang movie, "The Warriors"). This film probably won't be to everyone's taste, so proceed with caution, but if you want something different and if you don't think about it too much, there's a good chance you might enjoy this movie.

Rating:
Summary: WONDERFULLY REDICULOUS
Review: If you liked "The Heroic Trio" and "The Exectioners," you'll probably like "Saviour of the Soul." It has the same kind of comic book texture while being somewhat more understated (however much that's possible in a Hong Kong Cinema film). Anita Mui plays an assasin who's being hunted by another professional killer called Fox who wants revenge for Mui's blinding of Fox's mentor. Mui has several colleagues who come to her assistance and beyond that, this film is quintessential Hong Kong Cinema in that you just have to see it to believe it. Mui herself puts on a nice demonstration of her acting abilities (as well as her legs) playing a dual role of twin sisters. Beyond that, I'd only add that there's a nice number of fights, especially Andy Lau's sword duel with Fox and the younger member of Mui's troop is a teenage tomboy whose love of baseball makes for some interesting and innovative martial arts (I personally haven't seen baseball skills used as martial arts since the New York gang movie, "The Warriors"). This film probably won't be to everyone's taste, so proceed with caution, but if you want something different and if you don't think about it too much, there's a good chance you might enjoy this movie.

Rating:
Summary: Legend of Blown up Master...
Review: If you want to make a movie about a sword-wielding super ninja avenging his master you probably don't want to start the movie by having the aforementioned sword-wielding super ninja rescue his master and then blow him up. Nonetheless this is the road that Saviour of the Soul chooses to take and it is pretty succesful. The movie is just plain fun and extreme. It does just about everything there is in the filmmaker's handbook to get the audience to laugh, cry, and cheer. I really don't get the plot...that's where the holes are, but if you ignore plot entirely and follow the story without questioning any of the massive gaps in its logic, then you will enjoy this flick. Great art direction, sweet Hong Kong style fight scenes and a quality Superman take-off definetly make this dvd worth buying. Oh yeah, it also has Cantopop...nothing but Cantopop for a soundtrack...oh boy.

Rating:
Summary: Colorful Waste of Celluloid
Review: One thing "Saviour of the Soul" proves is that you don't need Tim Burton or Joel Schumacker and a million to make a bad comic-book movie. All the things that made a film like "Heroic Trio" such an unexpected joy are missing here. Where "Heroic Trio" had light tone, that didn't take itself too seriously, "Saviour of the Soul" alternates between sorrow and stoogery. There is no coherent story nor reason to care about the characters and no amount of style and can save it.

If we care about Anita Mui's character, it's only because we like Anita Mui the actress. The love story is laughable; there's no reason to believe the characters should be lovers. Andy Lau's character is just a sullen jerk, with good martial arts skills. Each of the stars have made better films.

The fightings okay, but we've seen it all before. The special effects are generally cheesy. And don't get me started on Madam Pet, a ripoff of Brigitte Lin's character in "Zu, Warriors of the Magic Mountain." Life is short, spend it with better movies.

Rating:
Summary: highly entertaining
Review: Saviour of the Soul is a brilliant high camp Hong Kong extravaganza featuring everything that the true fan loves about Hong Kong films. The plot revolves around Ching (Andy Lau) and Kwan (Anita Mui), who are 'city soldiers' along with Chuen. Silver Fox (Aaron Kwok) comes to kill Kwan to get revenge on her for foiling the plans of Silver Fox's master. In the process, he kills Chuen. Kwan, who loves Ching, decides that the best way to protect him is to drive him away. This leaves Ching with Chuen's 15 year old sister (who develops a crush on him) while he searches for Kwan, whom he loves. Anita Mui also plays her own a twin sister, a strange woman with a weird voice (which I think might have been dubbed in by someone else). Carina Lau plays Madam Pet (yes, that's what the subtitles said), whom Ching spurns.

That is the soap opera plot of Saviour of the Soul in a nutshell. It is apparently based on the manga City Hunter, which has also inspired a Jackie Chan film. There is a lot of backstory which seems to be assumed in this film. First of all, what are city soldiers?! The setting of the film appears to be a sort of combination of Hong Kong and Gotham City and wherever Dick Tracy lives, with fabulously designed, gorgeously colored sets. The look of this film is superb, and reason enough to see it.

This film has pretty much everything in it. Romance, drama, great flying fu style action scenes, blood spurts, some goofy special effects, and pretty much everything else you can imagine except a backstory (you can't have anything). Andy Lau is in fine form, bouncing from comedy to heroism without missing a beat. Carina Lau does a decent impression of Brigitte Lin's icy stare of death, though no one does it quite like Brigitte. Anita Mui does double duty as the romantic butt-kicking lead, Kwan, and her weird sister, who has a number of comic moments with Andy Lau. The young girl (Gloria Yip?) has the most boring role as about half the scenes with her in it seem to involve her crying for one reason or another.

If you enjoy frenetic Hong Kong action-comedy-dramas (and if you don't why do you watch Hong Kong films anyway?) then see Saviour of the Soul. - G

Rating:
Summary: Style over Substance
Review: The MTV, jumpcut style, of action in the opening prison breakin, the later fight in the bathroom, and the warehouse fight (with the mirror gag) is first rate. Nobody does it better. The plot is melodramatic without earning it and the stylized look is extremely gooey. Post modern flash.