Dragon was titled Wu Xia when I saw it at the Cannes Film Festival last year where the teaser for my review read: “A fascinating take on the martial arts genre, though it needs about ten minutes snipped.” Well, I guess I got my request… and then some.
The Weinstein Co. had already picked the film up for distribution once I saw it and they have since handed it off to their Radius-TWC division for an October 26 On Demand release followed by a theatrical release on November 30 and instead of the one hour and 56 minute movie I saw in Cannes, 19 minutes have been cut bringing it down to a swift 97.
The film stars Donnie Yen and Takeshi Kaneshiro with Yen playing Liu Jin-xi, a village craftsman whose quiet life is irrevocably shattered by the arrival of two notorious gangsters in the local general store. When Liu single-handedly saves the shopkeeper’s life, he comes under investigation by detective Xu Bai-jiu (Kaneshiro). Convinced that Liu’s martial arts mastery belies a hidden history of training by one of the region’s vicious clans, Xu doggedly pursues the shy hero — and draws the attention of China’s criminal underworld in the process.
I gave the film a “B-” at Cannes, noting in my opening paragraph:
Playing as a 1917-set, martial arts version of David Cronenberg’s A History of Violence, Wu Xia boasts a fascinating story and some excellent action scenes, choreographed and featuring Donnie Yen. There are moments when it plays a little too long leaving for a few dead spots throughout, though this does make you cherish the action scenes that much more when they arrive.
With 19 minutes cut it may actually move a lot smoother, which has me interested to check it out.
You can read the full review here where I also have a couple of previously released international trailers.
