The Cyan Dragon (2020)

The Cyan Dragon (2020)
Aka: The Yan Dragon
Chinese Title: 异星战甲之青龙
Translation: Alien Armor: Blue Dragon

 

Starring: Cui Erkang, Zhang Ruiyao, Hou Suxia, Chen Qi, Zhang Jing
Director: Ji Zhizhong, Tong Wei
Action Director: Li Xiaolong, Huang Yifei
VFX Director: Ji Zhizhong

I would say that the second half of the 2010s, possibly a little earlier, saw the Mainland Chinese film industry just take off like it never has before. Thanks to video sites like YouKu and Youtube, and streaming sites like iQiyi, dozens (if not hundreds) of low budget Chinese movies from smaller studios and indy filmmakers found platforms to show their films that would otherwise be ignored by traditional mediums (theaters, DVD releases, etc.). Moreover, in the past five years or so, hundreds of low-budget monster movies stuffed with questionable CGI—much like the sort of crap Sy-Fy, The Asylum, and Nu Image have been producing for years-- have been released in China and found their way to the West. The Cyan Dragon is an interesting fantasy film of the xianxia sub-genre.

In Mystical Fantasy Asia-Land, there are two battling kingdoms: Long and Yin. The Long kingdom is a good and righteous country being invaded by the Yin army, whose Imperial Master can control a kaiju-sized hydra monster named Xiang Liu. With the help of Xiang Liu, the Yin armies are able to conquer the border of the Long Country and slay their top general, General Ling. General Ling was not only the country’s principal warlord, he was the receptacle for the Cyan Dragon, the mythical beast and founder of the Long Kingdom. However, before dying, General Ling transfers the Cyan Dragon to one of his soldiers, Xiang Tian (Cui Erkang, of Jinxin is like Jade). Xiang Tian flees to the capital to inform the King and his ministers of what happened at the border.

Among the ministers is Ling Xuanji, General Ling’s sister. Upon learning that Xiang Tian is the new host for the Cyan Dragon, she tries to train him in how to harness the beast’s power as they journey to the border to face down Yin Imperial Master and the monster Xiang Liu. Joining them are two soldiers—Lu San and Qian Qian—a man and a woman, respectively. Following them are the Yin commander’s three top generals/assassins: a guy in a demon mask who has earthquake gauntlets, a ninja-like killer who leaves a trail of black smoke when he moves at super-speed, and finally a mask-wearing sorcerer. Will Xiang Tian be able to learn how to unleash the power of the Cyan Dragon and don the all-powerful Jade Armor before his encounter with the monster Xiang Liu?

We talk a lot these days about how Hollywood films are just too friggin’ long! Theatrical releases today often have 140-150-minute run times despite barely deserving a two-hour run time. Part of the reason is that it seems that movies these days have not one, but two climaxes—see The Batman for a particularly egregious example of the phenomenon. Moreover, this tendency toward overlength extends to South Korean and Japanese movies: every time I want to watch the latest Korean actioner to hit Netflix, I’m dismayed to see that it runs between 135 and 140 minutes. What the hell, people?

Anyway, I mention this because The Cyan Dragon manages to fit its epic-sized plotline in a mere 68 minutes. I mean, that’s only ten minutes longer than you average pre-fame John Wayne oater from the 1930s! And despite the short running time, the film manages to fit in a (sort of) coherent mythology, a few moments of tragedy, an epic battle sequence, several wire-fu fight scenes, and a final CGI vs. CGI climax, plus a bit of humor, too! None of it is particularly deep, but I admire the filmmakers’ ability to keep things short and sweet.

The fight scenes were staged by Li Xiaolong (not to be confused with Bruce Lee) and Huang Yifei. Li Xiaolong has a few credits as a stuntman on the HKMDB, notably The Four 3 and The Greatest Escort Group. The Four 3 allowed him to work with Yuen Woo-Ping protégé “Deedee” Ku Huen-Chiu, so I guess it’s the third generation of Yuen Woo-Ping’s influence in action. Huang Yifei, on the other hand, has done action direction on The Lost Tomb Under the Yellow River and Chasing the Dragon 2: Wild Wild Bunch. There he worked with Wong Min-Kin, a protégé of Tony Ching Siu-Tung. To sum things up, we have two action directors two generations removed from the Golden Age of Hong Kong Action Cinema.

The first battle scene is pretty cool, although very 300 in its presentation. Lots of alternating between slow motion and speeding up whenever someone is about to strike down their opponent. General Ling wields a sword imbued with magical power that allows him to extend it to Dhalsim-like lengths to impale multiple people and ram it into the ground so it sticks out several yards away to stab an opponent. The fights between the heroes and the Yin Generals in the second act are very twisty-turny-twirly sword ballets like your average 1990s Ching Siu-Tung film. The finale has our heroes fighting a 15-foot CGI giant with swords before our hero becomes a CGI-armored character to fight a hydra that would make King Ghidorah blush.

In the end, The Cyan Dragon is a slight fantasy actioner, but a fun one that does its job in half the time most movies take to tell similar stories. Lasting a smidge longer than an episode of Law & Order with commercials, it’s certainly worth a view.

This review is part of "Month of the Dragon"