FROM KRYPTON TO KOWLOON: THE SUPERHEROES ARE COMING.

Recently, Hong Kong has felt like a blend between Metropolis, Gotham City and the stylized New York seen in the classic Marvel comics. A crew flew here to shoot plate shots for the new Fantastic Four film, the next Batman flick, The Dark Knight, is set to film in Kowloon and I had lunch today with Superman Returns producer Chris Lee and friends. In fact, Hong Kong film-makers have long been willing to support the men in red-white-and-blue underwear. Local action directors have been drafted in to supply Hollywood comic book movies with Hong Kong style action, with Yuen Cheung-yan working on Daredevil and Corey Yuen on the first X-Men. Though not directly inspired by a comic book series, The Matrix, choreographed by Yuen Woo-ping, reflected that aesthetic in every frame. Given the above, it seems ironic that Hong Kong cinema has yet to deliver the definitive Chinese superhero movie. If any real-life movie actors move like comic book superheroes, it’s our Hong Kong action stars, and the city itself provides a suitably high tech locale. There have been a few attempts to create a Chinese superhero flick, but I would argue that no single film fully realized the potential of the concept. Back in the glory days of Shaw Brothers, kung fu stars Lo Lieh and Shih Szu gamely dressed up in red long johns to fight crime in riotously ridiculous Italian co-production ‘Supermen Against The Orient’. Johnnie To’s Heroic Trio, starring Anita Mui, Michelle Yeoh and Maggie Cheung, tells the story of three superheroines fighting in an unremittingly bleak future. Its sequel, Executioners, is grimmer still. Tsui Hark gave the Hong Kong superhero concept his best shot when he produced the mean, moody Black Mask. This kung fu fighting former super-soldier wore a Kato mask and hat, and was played by Jet Li, in the original, and by newcomer Andy On in a weird and wonderful Tsui-directed sequel. I remember sitting with Tsui at a mutual friend’s wedding, and him telling me his concept for a Batgirl movie. It sounded awesome, but I don’t think he ever got to pitch it to Warner Bros. Though Tsui’s Batgirl never flew, Michelle Yeoh’s Silver Hawk did. Director Jingle Ma got the kinetics of on-screen superhero action right, but the film’s goofy humour provided the wrong kind of ‘comic’. Hong Kong film-makers have occasionally channeled comic book imagery unintentionally. Kirk Wong’s Crime Story (coming soon to Dragon Dynasty) features a scene on an exploding roof-top which looks like it was story-boarded by the late, great Jack ‘King’ Kirby. Kirby co-created, with writer Stan Lee, most of the Marvel characters, including The Fantastic Four, The Hulk and The X-Men. His New Gods series, published by DC Comics, was an unacknowledged influence on Star Wars. (The bad guy is named Darkseid, the hero turns out to be Darkseid’s son, the good guys channel The Source… You get the idea.) One reason Hong Kong cinema has never quite gotten costumed superheroes right is that the heroes of local comic books are so different. Where American kids thrive on Superman and Batman, Cantonese youngsters devour imported Japanese manga (which rarely features costumed heroes) and locally produced titles from creators like Tony Wong and Ma Yuk-shing. The popularity of the manga called Riki Oh led Golden Harvest to produced an extravagantly violent film version, which has since acquired cult status worldwide. You can check out the most outrageous superheroics ever committed to film when Story Of Riki comes out on Dragon Dynasty. The local heroes created by Wong and Ma tended to be supernaturally-enhanced period swordsmen or contemporary martial arts masters. Infernal Affairs director Andrew Lau brought Ma Yuk-sing’s characters to the screen with great success in Storm Riders and A Man Called Hero. Tony Wong forged an alliance with veteran producer Raymond Wong. The latter developed a film version of the hit Jademan series Sword Searchers, but put it aside to focus on Dragon Tiger Gate movie. DTG is the longest running comic book in Hong Kong publishing history. Generations of kids have grown up on it, and my eldest son enjoys it today. The Dragon Tiger Gate movie was directed by Wilson Ip and Donnie Yen (who also stars). Though its heroes are not costumed superheroes in the established sense, they do manifest super powers due to their esoteric ‘chi’ development. The film captures the energy of comic book action as well as any Asian fantasy I’ve seen, and perhaps as well as any American one. The finale is, again unwittingly, Kirby-esque. Fans of The King will find much that is familiar with the huge Cubist monoliths of the bad guys lair. The action scenes also capture the intensity of four-colour fights. Characters a thrown the length of a church, and you feel the impact as they collide with stone that shatters beneath them. Needless to say, Dragon Tiger Gate is a Dragon Dynasty release, continuing our ‘Donnie Yen’ series after Kill Zone and Seven Swords. However, it’s still not a bona fide, definitive Hong Kong costumed ‘superhero’ movie. I have no doubt that, between them, Tsui Hark, Donnie Yen and sundry other local talents could cook one up. Maybe a displaced Shaolin Monk fighting crime on the Hong Kong streets, concealing his identity because he’s breaking the Temple’s laws, channeling the specific powers of ancient Chinese deities, fighting his arch foe, a high-tech Master Of The Flying Guillotine… Hmm. Where did I put Chris Lee’s number…?

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