Double World (2020)

Double World (2020)
Chinese Title: 徵途
Translation: Journey

 

Starring: Henry Lau, Peter Ho Yun-Tung, Lin Chenhan, Jiang Luxia, Him Lo Chung-Him, Bobo Hu Ming, Kira Shi Shi, Mark Cheng Ho-Nam, Wang Zi-Yi, Tiger Xu Ming-Hu
Director: Teddy Chen
Action Director: Stephen Tung Wai, Fan Yizhu, Zhang Mang

 

I think I’m starting to lose my once-great memory in my old age[1]. I watched this movie early this year—or late last year, and all I could remember from it was that I liked it more than I was expecting to. Big-budget epic Chinese fantasies are really hit and miss, and my initial thoughts on it were that it fell on the lower end of “hit.” But before I sat down to rewatch it earlier this week, I could honestly not remember a single thing from the movie. I kinda remembered one tournament events, but that was about it. Characters, set pieces, and story elements had become a complete blur in my mind. Is it that my memory is starting to fade (a scary thought)? Or was it just a forgettable film? And this coming from a guy who has a good memory of bland 70s basher film like The Brave Lion!

The movie opens with some subtitles informing the viewer that the Fantasy Asia-land the story takes place in is divided into two rival kingdoms: Southern Zhou and Northern Yan. After year of war, a stalemate was reached between the kingdoms and fighting came to a standstill for a number of years. However, the new King of Yan has decided to end the ceasefire and start war again. We then meet the political heads of the Zhou kingdom, which include the young king and Royal Tutor Guan (Bobo Hu Ming, of 1911 and Iceman: The Time Traveler). The former is the subject of an assassination attempt by Yan emissaries—one of them is killed in combat and the other is slaughtered by Guan’s pet lion(!). They decide to go forward with a traditional martial arts tournament to determine the army’s Field Marshall, who will lead the king’s armies against Yan forces.

Meanwhile, in some desert wasteland east of the Zhou capital, the Hu Xiao people live in a set-up that looks cribbed from Mad Max: Fury Road. The men spend their days toiling in mines while the women wait in line to get water from the local magistrate, who usually stops distributing it before everybody in line can fill up their pitchers. That doesn’t stop Dong Yilong (Henry Lau), a young orphan with video game-esque jumping skills and dodges authorities a lá Aladdin. He steals water and all sorts of things, but manages a happy-go-lucky attitude, even after he gets caught. In any case, the Royal Decree reaches the Hu Xiao Clan and they are required to send three volunteers to the capital, under threat of clan-level genocide. Dong  Yilong, a former soldier named Chu Hun (Peter Ho, of The Monkey King and The Sword Master), and some arrogant little jerk sign up for the quest. That last one gets killed by giant CGI scorpions a few minutes after they start their journey.

While crossing the desert, Dong Yilong makes friends with warriors from the Lizard Clan after saving their leader during a sandstorm. They also meet a girl who had stolen the Lizard Clan’s token to enter the tournament—her name is Jinggang (Lin Chenhan) and she wields a Claymore-class weapon, despite being shorter than the weapon itself (shades of Sayu and Noelle from Genshin Impact). Long story short: Jinggang eventually joins the Hu Xiao Clan team to make up for the death of nobody-cares-what-his-name-was. Chu Hun also “accidentally” buys a slave girl from Northern Yan named Bi Nu (Jiang Luxia, of Vampire Warriors and Coweb). Bi Nu happens to be the daughter of a general whom had been slain by Chu Hun’s brother (Tai Chi 2’s Mark Cheng, in a cameo) years before. Also, it was at that same battle that Royal Tutor Guan had failed to send reinforcements—we learn early on that he’s actually a spy for Northern Yan—to Chu’s army, resulting in his brother’s premature death. So Chu Hun and Bi Nu have axes to grind, and its Dong Yilong and Jinggang’s goodness and compassion that keeps everybody together throughout the ordeals of the competition.

The tournament isn’t your average martial arts fight fest. The first event involves the contestants running across a GINORMOUS cargo net made of large chains, making their way over a pit of spikes while giant iron balls rolls back and forth, threatening to crush anyone in their way. The second event feels cribbed from Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, in which the contestants have to steal an egg from a giant dragon in a cave filled with poisonous flowers and carnivorous vines. And the last event? Well, there’s only ONE Field Marshall on the books,  you know.

Teddy Chen is usually dependable for big budget mayhem with a bit of heart. From Purple Storm to Accidental Spy to Bodyguards and Assassins, the man knows his way around large scale action and strong visuals. With Double World, which was apparently based on a video game (or online RPG), he demonstrates that same basic knowledge of making his films look good and scoring (for the most part) on the action front. Most of the main characters have their important emotional moments, some kind of a backstory, and have chemistry with their co-stars. And like most Hong Kong films, there really is no plot armor for anyone in the cast. Anyone can die at any time.

Henry Lau reminds me of a shorter Jaycee Chan, although Lau is a bit more charismatic than Jackie’s scion. He doesn’t provide the story with much martial arts, however, which is left to co-stars Peter Ho and Lin Chenhan. Sadly, Jiang Luxia is mainly wasted in the role of a character who is brooding for revenge for most of her screen time. Peter Ho experiences most of the character development, as he goes from angry and cynical to something a little more heroic. Henry Lau’s compassion is his defining trait throughout and he is likable, but also a bit one note in his goodness.

The action sequences were overseen by Stephen Tung Wai, with Fan Yizhu and Zhang Man handling the fight choreography itself. Fan Yizhu has performed stuntwork on a number of high-profile films in the past decade or so, and was assistant action director for Detective Chinatown and God of War. Zhang Man has a similar résumé, although he cut his teeth as an action director on The Monkey King 3: Kingdom of Women (the one nobody remembers or talks about). The action is mainly swordplay and spear swinging, with a few small doses hand-to-hand combat. The fighting is wire-assisted at every turn, so people who hate wuxia movies on account of their “unrealistic” will have plenty to complain about here. The choreography on the whole isn’t bad, and there are several weapons combat sequences and a few pretty solid weapons exchanges, too.

Stephen Tung Wai did get nominated for a Best Action Design Award, although he lost to Ip Man 4 for obvious reasons. It’s actually kinda interesting, because usually when Stephen Tung Wai and Teddy Chen have teamed up, it has resulted in a win for Stephen. Just see Downtown Torpedoes; Purple Storm; The Accidental Spy (where Tung Wai teamed up with Jackie Chan for the action); and Bodyguards and Assassins. Moreover, Stephen Tung Wai was part of the trio that directed the fighting for Kung Fu Jungle, alongside Donnie Yen and Yuen Bun. That also won the award. So the Tung Wai-Teddy Chen collaboration were five-for-five until this film came around, in which they lost to Donnie Yen and Yuen Woo-Ping.

Double World is a fun little fantasy epic, but there’s a good chance that you won’t remember it a few weeks after you see it. In other words, it’s a typical big budget blockbuster—disposable entertainment at its slickest and most forgettable.

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[1] - I turned 40 this year.