Review of Dragon Tiger Gate

Introduction

In this multicultural techno-literate society, walking into a DVD store and finding a Hong Kong kung-fu action spectacular getting the two-disc special edition treatment is hardly a noteworthy occurrence. What is worth mentioning is that Dragon Tiger Gate isn`t being released by Hong Kong Legends. In fact, it`s courtesy of relative newcomers Cine Asia that we see this particular title, and given the treatment it has received, HKL may not rule the roost for long as the go to guys for Asian Cinema.

Hollywood isn`t the only film industry that can bring comic books to life. With the current vogue for CGI enhanced superheroes in the West now continuing on into sequels and threequels, other territories are proving that they can make movies that rival anything the suits in Burbank can. Dragon Tiger Gate is a popular Hong Kong comic, with superheroes and supervillains battling with kung fu that would make Neo wet his cool black pants.

The story is explained above in sufficient detail, so I won`t bother flirting with spoilers here.

Video

Things look promising with this 2.35:1 anamorphic transfer. It`s clear and unblemished throughout, not surprising given a film that was initially released last year. Given that it`s only 91 minutes long and presented on a dual layer disc, it`s understandably free of artefacts as well. I did notice the teeniest bit of edge enhancement in a couple of scenes, and I did feel that blacks could have been stronger, but by and large the transfer does the cinematography justice.

The action looks stupendous, with some fight sequences definitely leaving a lasting impression. CGI is used relatively sparingly to enhance these, but elsewhere the CGI paintbrush is wielded by the digital equivalent of Rolf Harris. The main villain`s lair is a futuristic melding of Bladerunner and the depths of Hades, in a film set in modern day Hong Kong.

Audio

With an action movie like Dragon Tiger Gate, with fists flying, feet kicking and battered bodies being launched in all directions, you would expect some surround goodness, and you do get some. It`s a rather weedy, half bitrate 224kbps DD 5.1 Cantonese track, although you do have the alternative of the stereo instead. It`s Ok, your surrounds do get a workout, with the action sequences resonating around the soundstage. But clarity and definition are lacking, and the music, effects and dialogue all seem to be part of a mass. Kenji Kawai (Ghost In The Shell) composes the music. The subtitles are of the forced player generated variety, which you can`t turn off.

Features

Both discs get the animated menu treatment, with scenes from the film, but it does take a while for the main menu screens to boot up on both discs.

Disc 1 offers you the theatrical and teaser trailer for the movie, as well as three TV spots. You`ll also find 3 trailers for other movies from Cine Asia and Showbox.

Disc 2 supplies the meat of the extras, beginning with the ever-present Making Of. This lasts 19 minutes and is your usual format of behind the scenes footage, film clips and cast and crew interviews. There is some interesting input on how the actors mastered their particular martial arts. Otherwise it is pretty run of the mill.

The PreProduction and Shooting Diaries last 14 minutes. They are split into 4 sections, and take us behind the scenes with some b-roll footage of the various action sequences.

Locations takes us behind the scenes of the Japanese Restaurant, Lousha Gate, Floating Restaurant and Dragon Tiger Gate. These last a total of 10 minutes, and with interviews with the cast and crew, gives an insight on shooting at the sets.

There are seven deleted scenes in all, coming to around 8 minutes in total. They`re without context, and other than a couple of sweet scenes between Tiger and Xiaoling, hardly noteworthy.

The disc rounds off with the interviews, a whopping 84 minutes in total, featuring contributions from Donnie Yen, Nicholas Tse, Shawn Yue, Dong Jie, Li Xiaoran and director Wilson Yip. There is a bit of repetition from the Making Of, but they go into a fair amount of detail about the actors` experiences on the film, working with each other and what they remember most.

While the extras are copious, they are an expanded version of the standard EPK guff, pretty self-congratulatory and repetitious, but there are points of interest to be gleaned nevertheless. I was particularly impressed with the detail that went into the set design and construction, and of course the fight sequences were no less impressive in b-roll footage, complete with wires and crash mats, than they were in the completed film.

Conclusion

Dragon Tiger Gate is pure comic book hokum, targeted at the same demographic that enjoys the Marvel adaptations, replete with heroes and villains blessed with super powers and the angst that results. The fact that the film begins with the rapidly flicking pages of the comic book is no coincidence. If you are coming at this film from the martial arts angle, you`ll probably have to blink and readjust for a minute to get in sync with the ridiculously overpowered kung fu action that underlies this story.

The problem is, that even as a comic book adaptation, Dragon Tiger Gate really isn`t all that good. The story is hardly Booker Prize material, with estranged brothers reuniting to prod villainous buttock, but this film makes a hash of it regardless. Plot holes abound, and the pacing is shot to hell with the overuse of flashbacks. The story is disjointed, more a collection of scenes than anything approaching a strong narrative.

It`s a film of two halves, the story and the action, and it`s worth wading through the story just to get to the excellent action sequences. They`re fast, powerful, and innovative, and sheer eye candy for the most part, and there are a lot of them. The film reminded me of the old WWF wrestling I used to watch. I would always tape it, so I could fast forward the ten or so minutes of a wrestler grimacing his way through half a page of script, just so I could get to the meat of the action. There were moments in Dragon Tiger Gate where I felt like pleading to the actors, "please, stop trying to emote, have another rumble."

And while the main characters aren`t particularly emotionally engaging, the villain may as well be nonexistent. He`s a masked man whose sole purpose is to provide an enemy for the heroes to best, he has about as much impact as a wet halibut, except when`s he`s being kicked through a wall. I couldn`t connect with the movie so it lost me early on. Fortunately there was plenty of kung fu eye candy to gawp at.

This is an initially impressive set from Cine Asia. The presentation of the film is good, although the sound could be a little higher spec, and a whole disc full of extras isn`t anything to be sniffed at, until it becomes clear that it`s the usual package that comes with most films nowadays, and is hardly innovative or at heart truly informative.

At its best Dragon Tiger Gate is silly, energetic, ridiculous fun. At its worst it`s slow, weakly plotted, and tiresome. The good just about outweighs the bad, but it`s a fine thing. It`s just the sort of thing to watch with your brain in idle, and I doubt it will get too many replays.