Can't Be Half

Jason Chan

The Hong Kong- born, Canada-raised Jason Chan may be a relative newcomer but he has heavyweight help in the songwriting department.

Master lyricist Lin Xi penned one of Chan’s biggest hits You Conceal, I Conceal from the EP Close Up (2009), which is thoughtfully included here. He also wrote the lyrics to the standout ballads on this disc, Half Dating and No Wrong Done.

The latter laments a love that ends due to no one’s fault: “It is more painful that there wasn’t someone to steal you away than simply losing you.”

Chan’s voice feels guy-next-door enough that it is pleasant to listen to but it does not quite plumb the emotional depths here.

Smart of him then to vary the material with the pop-rock The Last Embrace and the more light-hearted Imaginary Love by singer-songwriter Chet Lam.

He shows how even if one does not have the strongest voice around, having good taste in collaborators and song choice can make a difference.

Before, After

A-Lin

The A-mei comparisons came from the get-go partly because of A-Lin’s aboriginal background and partly because of her big voice.

A-Lin’s vocals, though, are less husky, with a sinuous sensuousness that is explored on Complete Romance when she croons: “I am only woman/You are only man.”

They are also in fine form for the big ballads such as I’m Very Happy Now and Before, After, which kick into an arena-sized chorus after a low-key start: “Happiness shouldn’t be like rainbows/To be held briefly after the storm.”

The disco surprise of Next Please is a welcome one and continues the mini- trend that has also seen Landy Wen and Tiger Huang get down and boogie.

It may take some more time for her to shake off those A-mei comparisons but A-Lin definitely proves she is her own woman here.

01:59PM

2PM

FOR MUZIK

4Minute

Complaining that Korean pop is slick is like grousing that rain is wet. It is simply a fact of life.

One might as well expend that energy trying to tell them apart given the rate at which they proliferate.

For example, both 2PM and 2AM were originally part of the soccer team-sized One Day. After the split, 2PM ended up with six pretty boys and 2AM with four.

Apart from the numerical disparity, it might help you tell them apart if you have seen Thailand’s tourism campaign as the theme song is performed by Thai American Nichkhun is part of 2PM.

The story for 4Minute, which comprise five sassy girls, is a little simpler. They came together officially in May last year and the line-up includes Hyun A from Wonder Girls, who had the ubiquitous hit Nobody.

As for the music, 2PM offer R&B with blandly generic titles such as Back 2U and All Night Long while 4Minute serve up energetic dance tracks, with the slinky Funny leaving an impression for deviating from the mould somewhat.

It is all quite serviceable if unexceptional.

With groups splitting up and reconfiguring faster than you can say “Anyonghaseyo”, 4Minute’s moniker seems to be a tacit acceptance of the fact that that is all anyone can expect to have of the proverbial 15 minutes of fame.

(ST)

Dear John

Lasse Hallstrom

The story: While on home leave in South Carolina, Special Forces soldier John Tyree (Channing Tatum) meets college student Savannah Curtis (Amanda Seyfried) and the two fall in love. They keep up a steady stream of correspondence when he heads back into service but events, political and personal, keep them apart.

Author Nicholas Sparks is turning into a one-man industry the way John Grisham dominated the 1990s with his legal thrillers.

Dear John is the fifth of his 15 published novels to be adapted for the big screen and another, The Last Song, is on the way.

In works such as The Notebook and Message In A Bottle, fans have swooned over this idea of a pure love that endures, often in the face of personal tragedies and other obstacles.

Clearly, they cannot get enough of Sparks as Dear John even ended Avatar’s two-month reign atop the American box office when it was released early this month.

While the new film revisits a similar theme, there is some freshness in the casting of the appealing actors Channing Tatum and Amanda Seyfried. Ex-model Tatum (Public Enemies, G.I. Joe: The Rise Of Cobra) is looking more square-jawed with each film and he exudes a reserved, military bearing that strikes the right note for the character. Seyfried, from TV’s high school detective series Veronica Mars (2004 - 2006), proves she is ready to step into leading lady roles.

The two make for a believable couple and almost get away with a hokey bit where they say something about the moon being the same size regardless of where one is in the world.

The problem is the curveball that is thrown at the audience simply for the sake of keeping them apart. It involves Tim (Henry Thomas, best known as the boy from 1982’s E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial), a family friend of Savannah’s. The development makes no sense even when Savannah tries to explain to John what happened.

There is a moving love story here but it is not the one you think. Rather than the romance, it is the relationship between John and his father that tugs at the heartstrings more.

It is suggested that Tyree senior is autistic and Richard Jenkins, nominated for an Oscar last year for Best Actor for the drama The Visitor, turns in an understated performance.

Swedish director Lasse Hallstrom has been accused of mawkish sentimentality but he handles the prickly familial relationship admirably.

It is touching and true in a way that John and Savannah’s thwarted love never is.

(ST)

Hot Summer Days

Tony Chan, Wing Shya

The story: As temperatures climb, passions boil over and five intertwining love stories play out in several cities across China. The couples include Jacky Cheung as an ersatz Ferrari driver, Rene Liu as a masseuse, Daniel Wu as a sushi chef and Vivian Hsu as a gourmet.

People meet cute, act cute and have cute epiphanies about love in this compendium of romantic tales. It can be too much to take, especially in the weaker segments.

But first, the good news. As a chauffeur and a masseuse, Cheung and Liu play their working-class characters with a welcome light touch. In particular, he makes you root for the single dad who tries to make ends meet while earning his daughter’s respect.

His romance begins when he sends Liu an SMS by mistake. This slowly develops into a friendship and then something more even though they both hide the truth about what they do. Yes, it is cute but the two actors have a charming chemistry together.

For the same reason, the segment with Jing Boran as a young man working in a sleepy little shop and Angelababy as a factory worker clicks.

She agrees to be his girlfriend if he stands in the hot sun for 100 days. Your eyes may roll at this outlandish request but there is a sweet simplicity to the story and they have the excuse of youth on their side.

Which is more than can be said for Hsu’s character, who behaves like a giddy, petulant schoolgirl instead of a woman in love.

She also happens to be nicknamed Wasabi while she calls her sushi chef love interest (Wu) Soy Sauce. The message here being that if it is written in the condiments, it is clearly meant to be.

Another weak link in the chain focuses on an overbearing photographer (Duan Yihong) who starts to go blind after he fires a model (Michelle Wai). Believing he was cursed by her, he and his assistant (Fu Xinbo) try to track her down.

Besides sticking out like a sore thumb in terms of mood and plot, it also seemed like there was more of a connection between the photographer and his assistant than in the forced, late-in-the-game romance which pops up from nowhere.

Given the film’s myriad threads, it is hard for actors to stand out but Nicholas Tse manages to do so as a kind-hearted mechanic, even though it is a variation of the role he recently played in the historical thriller Bodyguards And Assassins (2009).

Alas, he is paired in an unimaginative scenario with a tough biker chick (Barbie Hsu) who has a heart of gold.

Speaking of standing out, the much- missed Maggie Cheung was luminous in a cameo as a heartbroken woman.

Some credit has to go to co-director Wing Shya, one of Hong Kong’s top celebrity photographers, for making everyone look good and lovingly art- directing all those drops of perspiration.

But surely there is more to love than glossy cutesiness.

(ST)

Private Corner

Jacky Cheung

On his last Mandarin release, By Your Side (2007), the God of Song flirted with jazz on the track An Unfinished Lesson.

It has proven to be no passing infatuation. For his first Cantonese release since 2004’s Life Is Like A Dream, he has chosen to deliver a full-on jazz album.

Instead of a half-hearted inclusion of a saxophone or piano, Cheung immerses himself in the jazz idiom, singing the blues on Infatuated With You, swinging on the big band sound of Double Trouble and even scatting on In Love With Your Back.

And even though it is not quite the season, he makes the English number Everyday Is Christmas, complete with lyrics about Santa’s sleigh and reindeer, work.

The versatile singer can be smooth as silk as he caresses each syllable or bright and brassy when the number calls for it and proves he is not just winging it.

You have to credit one of popular music’s biggest stars for doing his thing instead of just giving the people what they want. The closest thing to a pop confection here is Not Just Fated, so fans looking to make an easy transition to the new Jacky Cheung should head here first.

As they get drawn into the album, they will soon discover that Cantonese jazz is not a contradiction in terms but a perfectly natural combination.

Snowman

Peggy Hsu

There is a fairy-tale quality to this disc which opens with a story read in French. According to the translation in the lyrics booklet, it is about a snowman who reaches out for human contact but starts to melt as his heart grows warm.

Despite being a little twee, it does set the tone for this autumn-winter companion to the spring-summer release of Fine which Hsu put out in June last year.

On Punk, easily an album highlight, a wild, raging passion is played out against swirling strings and icy beats as she croons delicately. The singer-songwriter then evokes a beautiful picture of doomed romanticism on Cherry Blossom Snow and later serves up chill-out dance track Downfallen Aristocrat: “Elegant crystal ornaments/Covered in spider webs/As if they have wasted their entire lives.”

For all the variety in style and subject, this, Hsu’s third release in 31/2 years, feels remarkably coherent. After being mired in a contractual dispute which prevented her from releasing records for six years, it must be a relief to pour out her feelings again.

It would seem that her journey is mirrored in the snowman’s who, in his darkest moment, finds salvation in music and, in turn, becomes a beacon of hope.

One Two Three

Da Mouth

Taiwanese hip-hop combo Da Mouth want to party and that is just fine.

Tracks such as Rock It, Future Party and Turn Up The Music state their intent upfront and will have you grooving to the electronic beat, while Make Out urges you to “Get it on rite now!”

Skip the shamelessly pandering Happy Birthday My Dear, though, and try not to cringe at the inane lyrics of “Shining shining shining/O U got bling bling/O we got bling bling”.

The futuristic theme is also rather hokey. The use of Auto-Tune does not make a song forward-looking. In fact, 3010 and Back To The Future sound more retro than space age.

More interesting is the commercial tie-up between sports lifestyle brand Puma and Aisa, Harry, MC 40 and DJ Chung Hua. Posters of the foursome togged out in the label’s sportswear are plastered all over town and Puma is prominently mentioned on the album cover.

Is this the future face of music?

(ST)

The Answer Is... Stefanie Sun 2010 Resorts World Sentosa Chinese New Year Concert

Resorts World Convention Centre,

Compass Ballroom

Tuesday

When local singer Stefanie Sun held her concert at the Singapore Indoor Stadium seven months ago, she seemed subdued for much of the time on stage. This time around, the 31-year-old appeared to be much more comfortable and it made all the difference.

It could be the fact that this is essentially a scaled-down rehash of her July show, one she is intimately familiar with by now.

Or perhaps she felt less pressure to dazzle because, as she herself indicated, many tickets were given away by Resorts World Sentosa and attendance was not a direct reflection of her box-office draw.

There were, in fact, several hundred empty seats gaping conspicuously in the choice area up front – they were reserved for the casino’s VIPs who did not turn up.

A paying audience abhors a vacuum, especially if the void is closer to the stage than where they are seated. So the moment the lights went down, fans from the tiered seats at the back of the ballroom surged forward.

The darkened atmosphere also proved to be a boon in other ways. For one thing, the audience no longer had to look at the tacky flower-shaped lights on the ceiling. For another, the stage no longer looked dwarfed by the cavernous hall, which was configured to seat 4,500 people for the show.

The relatively low ceiling of the venue rules out elaborate stages so the vibe of the place is decidedly more Suntec City Convention Hall than Indoor Stadium. This meant that Sun did not have to compete for one’s attention against a set-up with a whole lot of bells and whistles.

Whatever the reason, it was a transformed performer on stage, one brimming with confidence as she delivered hit after hit from 10 best-selling albums.

The choreography was tight on the fast-paced numbers such as Magic and Dreams Never Fail while her distinctively textured voice was in fine form for signature ballads such as My Love and I’m Not Upset.

The acoustics of the hall were clean and clear, and unlike the Indoor Stadium gig, there were no microphone problems to mar her delivery.

A key element that was retained from the previous show was the whimsical and outre costumes, courtesy of Hong Kong’s William Chang, best known for his work on director Wong Kar Wai’s films.

During the 90-minute-plus show, Sun shimmered and glittered in a sparkly outfit straight out of a 1960s sci-fi flick and then preened and posed in a get-up consisting of an origami headpiece and a cream short dress with oversized sequins.

Clearly in a relaxed mood, she gave out hongbao on this third day of the Chinese New Year and, in a reference to media interest over her relationship status, quipped that this did not mean that she had gotten married.

Her easy command of the proceedings was most clearly demonstrated at the start of the joyous First Day.

She simply said “You can stand up now”, and the audience duly obeyed.

I had wondered after watching her last concert whether she would fare better in a smaller setting.

On Tuesday night, she had the songs, she had the voice and, crucially, she had the attitude. The answer was clear.

(ST)

Rainie & Love...?

Rainie Yang

Rashomon

Show Luo

My Love Story

Linda Chung

Actors often feel the need to multitask and pick up a mike as well. It is such a natural progression that it is encapsulated in the phrase “yan er you ze chang”, which means acting well and hence moving into singing.

Too often, though, what triggers that leap is something as prosaic as cheque book considerations.

Two of Taiwan’s hottest stars Rainie Yang and Show Luo are currently starring in the idol drama Hi My Sweetheart. This means the timing is perfect for the release of their new albums, both featuring the obligatory duet In Your Eyes.

The best thing about Yang’s album is that the priestess of cute sounds less whiny when singing than acting and she does a decent job on ballads such as Anonymous Good Friend and Rainy Love, the end theme song from Sweetheart.

But the appropriately named Yao Wo De Ming (It’s Gonna Kill Me) had me stabbing the fast-forward button, while lines such as “Girls need love/In order to become beautiful” do her no favours.

You have to wonder what happens when cute no longer cuts it and the music stops?

Luo, resorting to a different route, tries to be more gaga than Lady Gaga with funky eyewear and adventurous outfits on his seventh album. The nimble-footed entertainer is known for his slick moves and the album kicks off with dance numbers Luo Sheng Men (Lover’s Puzzle) and Ai De Zhu Chang Xiu (The Leading Role). Got You Nailed dishes up some retro disco vibe while closer WOW has him sharing the limelight with label mate Elva Hsiao.

There is an element of campy fun to the fast numbers, which also do a better job of diverting attention from his unmemorable voice. But there is no getting away from ballads, so he ploughs through I’ll Get Used To It, Hazardous Idea and You Won’t Be Alone.

Although he might be the bigger star, there is no question that Alien Huang, his co-host on the variety show 100% Entertainment, came up with the superior album with Love Hero.

Also jumping on the multi-hyphenate bandwagon is Hong Kong TVB actress and former beauty queen Linda Chung. To her credit, she has a hand in composing some of the songs but that does not quite compensate for her reedy voice. Worse, the dated arrangements make the tracks, in particular Sheng Si Ye Wei Ai (Live Or Die, It’s All For Love), sound like theme songs to drama serials of yesteryear.

She messes with the classics on a remake of Fly Me To The Moon and a Cantonese version of Sandy Lam’s I Heard That Love Had Returned but the results are not particularly revelatory.

Sometimes, it is better to just stick with one thing and do that well.

(ST)

Re:Kindle Love

Ko-Nen Creative Arts House and The Arts House

The Hall @ The Arts House

It is hard to put one’s finger on exactly what emotion this Mandarin musical fanned the flames of most, but it definitely was not love.

Was it the incredulity one felt when 20something protagonist Feng Qi (Trey Ho) and single mother Ai Ling (Renee Chua) bump into each other and, in the next breath, are crooning a love duet even though she has barely registered his presence?

Or perhaps it was the bewilderment one experienced when Feng Qi buys a bracelet with the words Zai Jian Ai for the one he loves? The show translates the phrase awkwardly as Rekindle Love but the first translation that popped into mind was actually Goodbye Love.

When not engineering convenient run-ins between characters, film-maker Gloria Chee’s script merrily marries old-school melodrama with eyebrow-raising inanities. We get an orphan with a terminal disease, three women entangled with one man and a confrontation at the cemetery that had even the unusually forgiving 60-plus members of the audience tittering.

Add to the mix the heavy-handed direction by Jalyn Han and it is little wonder that the fresh-faced cast, including Ho, Regina Tey as Feng Qi’s good friend Mei Qin and Lee Qian Yu as Ai Ling’s rebellious daughter Ai Ai, never stood much of a chance despite some promising singing.

Given that singer-songwriter Jiu Jian was part of the 1980s xinyao movement and has also penned compositions for the likes of Jacky Cheung, his musical numbers in the show should have been engaging.

Unfortunately, they were not always cogent to the admittedly challenging plot.

The best number was The Seventh Day In The Desert, which was previously recorded by Taiwanese singer Cyndi Chao. But alas, given that most of its lyrics were too location specific to be shoehorned even into this show, we had to be content with just the chorus as Ai Ling mourned her late husband.

This musical purports to be an earnest exploration of love but it falls far short of its lofty intentions.

In the end, it was the English surtitles, with their cavalier attitude towards punctuation, grammar and meaning, which proved to be more entertaining.

(ST)

True Legend

Yuen Woo Ping

The story: Su Can (Vincent Zhao Wenzhuo) is the creator of the legendary martial arts skill Drunken Fist. What lies behind this achievement is a tragic tale of betrayal and loss set in China in the late 19th century.

Like a wooden pillar struck by Su Can’s sword, this movie splits neatly into two.

The first part deals with Su’s betrayal by his adopted brother. Yuan Lie’s (Andy On glowering scarily) father was killed by Su senior for his evil ways, so he holds a grudge against the Su family.

He eventually exacts a terrible vengeance and while Su Can and his wife Xiaoying (Zhou Xun) survive, their son is held hostage by Yuan Lie.

The unfolding of all this presents many opportunities for tightly choreographed fights and the fluid mayhem is a thing of beauty.

One scene that stands out is the showdown sequence between Su Can and Yuan Lie in a well. One can only marvel at the athleticism on display as they manoeuvre for advantage and balance while scuttling up and down the wall of the well with limbs outstretched.

Then again, one would expect no less from Yuen Woo Ping. Despite helming the classic Jackie Chan gongfu flick Snake In The Eagle’s Shadow (1978), he is probably best known for being an action director non pareil and his choreography can be seen in such diverse films as the Wachowski brothers’ sci-fi dystopia flick The Matrix (1999) and the Oscar-winning Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000).

Zhao handles the action adroitly and while he is a more expressive actor than, say, Donnie Yen, he seems more suited for playing the debonair, gentlemanly warrior that Su Can is at the start of the film rather than the drunk and unkempt beggar he later becomes.

Still, there is at least a degree of believability to him and Zhou Xun being a loving couple.

True Legend though is not content to leave well enough alone after the climactic showdown between Su Can and Yuan Lie as the film has yet to account for the creation of the Drunken Fist.

This is where things get out of whack and we are suddenly watching an Ultimate Fighting Championship in Heilongjiang which pits Chinese fighters against towering Caucasians.

It gets even more surreal when the late David Carradine, best known for his 1972 TV series Kung Fu, inexplicably shows up as Anton, the dastardly manager of the Westerners.

Despite some competition from music star Jay Chou as the God Of Martial Arts and actress Michelle Yeoh as the kindly Sister Yu, Carradine wins hands down for the most distracting cameo.

When Su Can finally comes up with the Drunken Fist, it feels more like an afterthought than an integral part of the story. Instead, it is the bizarre turn taken by the film that will floor you.

(ST)

Little Big Soldier

Ding Sheng

The story: A foot soldier from Liang (Jackie Chan) and a general from Wei (Wang Lee Hom) are the sole survivors of a bloody battle between the warring states in China (3rd to 5th century BC). The soldier plans to take the wounded general back to Liang for a reward but he soon finds that there are others on their trail.

After the dismal Hollywood detours of recent years – some griped that The Tuxedo (2002) was a limp rag – it is a pleasure to see that the Jackie Chan of old is back.

It used to be that having his name above the title of a movie would guarantee healthy returns at the box office. Each new movie from the action-comedy superstar was eagerly awaited in the 1980s and early 1990s, as he sought to outdo himself with ever more elaborate death-defying stunts.

The daredevil fell from a clock tower and crashed through a series of cloth canopies in Project A (1983), and leapt into the air and slid down a pole of twinkling Christmas lights in Police Story (1985). But he always sprang back no matter what he was put through.

Just as important as the action was the comedy. Chan’s goofy underdog persona endeared him to one and all and had audiences rooting for him.

So meeting the Liang soldier Chan plays in this movie feels a little like meeting an old rascally friend.

He is a bit of a trickster and he survives the battle by pretending to get shot by an arrow, a gag that gets recycled to better effect later on in the film.

The pragmatic fellow seizes the opportunity when he comes across the wounded Wei general and decides to lug him back to Liang for a reward.

One wonders what could have been if Chan had acted opposite his own son Jaycee, a casting choice that was nixed by Mrs Chan, 1970s Taiwanese screen idol Lin Feng-chiao, as they were too similar in character. She may be right as there is some engaging odd-couple chemistry between Chan and actor-singer Wang Lee Hom, happily much improved in his first big-screen outing since the racy espionage thriller Lust, Caution (2007).

At first, there seems to be little in common between the principled general and what he sees as a snivelling foot soldier who dreams only of having his own plot of land where he can grow crops and settle down with a family.

But the two bond, inevitably, as they try to escape from the general’s dangerously ambitious brother Prince Wen and when they fall into the hands of a fierce tribe of warriors.

And by the end of the film, the yearning for peace and domesticity achieves an unexpected poignancy.

The movie, by China director Ding Sheng, moves along fairly briskly. This also means that discordant elements – the lines of Korean actor Steve Woo (Prince Wen) are not dubbed over – do not get too annoying.

Do stay for the out-takes, which are something of a Chan trademark. He may no longer be risking life and limb to thrill audiences but it still takes precision and ingenuity to choreograph a seemingly simple scene of him and Wang fighting over a sword.

Perhaps it is time to start looking forward to Jackie Chan movies again?

(ST)

While I

Shin

Let's Smile!

F.I.R.

Chris Lee

Chris Lee

Magic Power

Magic Power

Do Chinese people have rock? If they do, what should Chinese rock be like?

Singer Zhao Chuan posed this query in the song Fen Mo Deng Chang, meaning “to put on make-up and go on stage”, back in 1991 and it is something that artistes still grapple with today.

On his third solo offering, Shin, previously of Shin Band, takes the rock ballad route and topped the Taiwan album charts for his pains.

Come Back and Can’t Be Without You exemplify this approach: dramatic mid-tempo songs that have him wearing his heart on his sleeve as he wails and scales his falsetto range.

It gets wearying, with the growling and snarling coming across as so much posturing and the musical arrangements merely a recycling of the most hackneyed rock cliches.

Zhui Gan Shi Jie (Chasing After The World) provides a brief respite from the theatrics but is buried deep in the album. Shin should take his own advice when he sings: “I’ve never been afraid of change, bravely challenging what’s new.”

So should pop-rock trio F.I.R., who smile determinedly in the face of familiarity.

The whiff of deja vu on opener Find My Way only grows more pronounced over the course of the album. The trio are stuck in a rut they cannot seem to get out of.

When they do try something different on the summery Surfing Season, they end up sounding like Won Fu instead. Mostly though, the conundrum for F.I.R. is how to create music that does not sound like what they have done before.

Chris Lee has the opposite problem as she struggles to create a distinctive sound. Better known as Li Yuchun, the winner of China’s singing competition Super Girl in 2005 tries everything on her third, self-titled album.

The end result is a scattered effort that goes from the dance-rock of A Mo to the breezy pop of See You, Next, Corner to the cutesy Little Universe.

She even throws in snatches of Cantonese on Serves You Right and also tries her hand at rap. She has always stood out for her androgynous look and voice but the material she writes does not always gel with those singular qualities.

Which leaves newcomers Magic Power to cast a spell with their energetic debut.

These six guys in their 20s may look like a boyband but they write their own material, with most of the compositions from vocalist Yen Yen.

Purists may sniff, but this refreshing record mixes rock, dance, rap and hip-hop into an irreverent and irresistible whole. Check out Busy Man where the boys have fun with a jokey use of falsetto as they take a dig at the bustle of modern life and then give advice to take it easy.

Their optimistic outlook on tracks such as Be OK, Going Back In Time and New World is a welcome ray of sunshine, though Get Out strikes a contrarian note by railing against society’s injustices.

Still, the lads get what Zhao Chuan sang about: “You said rock can sometimes be an attitude towards life/Do as you please with the melody but the rhythm must be clear.”

(ST)

14 Blades

Daniel Lee

The story: When the imperial court of the Ming Dynasty falls into the clutches of evil eunuch Jia, Qinglong (Green Dragon, played by Donnie Yen), head of the Jinyiwei elite squad of secret agents, becomes the most wanted man in the country. He seeks the help of an escort agency to smuggle him out of the capital and strikes up a tentative romance with Qiao Hua (Zhao Wei), daughter of the agency’s chief.

There are as many elements simmering away in this potboiler thriller as there are blades in the title. This makes for a long and clunky exposition in which the background has to be laid out.

The audience learns about the unscrupulous Xuan Wu (Qi Yuwu) who is in cahoots with eunuch Jia (Law Kar Ying) and is part of Prince Qing’s (Sammo Hung) conspiracy to overthrow the court.

Then, in a lengthy aside, it is told about the titular blades. Given to Qinglong, eight of them are for torture, five for killing and the last one for committing suicide if the mission fails.

It takes a good while before the film settles down into the pursuit of Qinglong by rogue agents.

And there is still more to come with the introduction of Tuo Tuo (Kate Tsui), a highly skilled femme fatale who is the adopted daughter of Prince Qing, and The Judge (Wu Chun), the warrior leader of a band of desert brigands.

Given director Daniel Lee’s professed love of, and previous experience in, martial arts flicks, the pay-off is that the moviegoer gets a number of stylishly executed fight scenes. But there are too many jarring ingredients for the whole thing to come together as a whole.

Yen is a reliable action leading man and he has been on a roll in recent years with hits such as cop thriller Flash Point (2007) and biopic Ip Man (2008). He is equally adept at wielding a gun or sword but still seems uncomfortable when a role demands more than fisticuffs.

Despite Zhao Wei’s best efforts, the blossoming romance between Qiao Hua and Qinglong is not very convincing and instead of providing the film with its emotional centre, is just another plotline to be accounted for.

There is also the snigger-inducing name of Tuo Tuo (which means to undress) who actually disrobes as she darts about in so-fast-the- viewer-needs-to-see-this-in-slo-mo fashion around her hapless opponents.

Wu Chun takes the cake, though, when he turns up looking like a reject from the Pirates Of The Caribbean sequels in his dreadlocks, chunky earring, bandanna and a vest two sizes too small in order to flaunt that taut midriff.

Having introduced all these disparate components, Lee then follows through on all of them, making it seem as though the film would never end.

With 14 Blades at his disposal, he could have considered using one or two to cut the movie down to size.

(ST)

Amit Live First World Tour

Singapore Indoor Stadium

Last Friday

What’s in a name? Plenty, it seems, when it comes to Taiwanese diva A-mei. The 37-year-old singer released an album under the moniker of Gulilai Amit last June, and in so doing liberated and energised herself to make music with a more adventurous sound.

In a way, the exercise was about going back to fundamentals since Amit is none other than her Puyuma aboriginal birth name.

The album sold well enough for the singer to launch a world tour in the guise of her new-yet-old persona. At her Singapore stop, she made her entrance in a winged and feathered concoction of black and white, holding court as she performed the Puyuma track, Amit.

From the start it was clear that this was going to be a rock concert. Black and silver outfits were de rigueur and long-haired male guitarists flailed away on stage.

Some of the best moments were her delivery of the thrillingly fast-paced Black Eat Black and the exhilaratingly brash Minnan track Come On If You Dare.

I actually wished for ear plugs at some point, a rare and not altogether unpleasant thought at a Mandopop concert.

Score one for Amit.

Her new identity did not reject the old entirely, as the album also included several slow-burn ballads such as Alter Ego, Falling and After The Sentimental Love Of Animals, harking back to the A-mei that the near-capacity crowd of 7,500 knew and loved.

She acknowledged that, as Amit, she did not have enough material to put on a full concert and so she proceeded to borrow songs from A-mei’s back catalogue.

The power balladeering on Can I Hold You?, Can’t Cry and especially on the lesser-heard gem, Chen Zao (While It’s Still Early) enthralled the crowd.

The obliging singer also proceeded to take requests and sang, a cappella, the classics Listen To The Sea and I Want Happiness. In addition, she crooned Jie Tuo (Release) as it was composed by Singaporean Xu Huaqiang, who had turned up for the show.

Score another for A-mei.

Was it A-mei or Amit, though, who donned a billowing leopard print cape and then wowed the fans with the Turandot aria Nessun Dorma in a drama queen moment? It showcased the vocal prowess of the versatile artist who had performed in a production of that opera in 2008.

And was it Amit or A-mei who drew on her bottomless reserve of strength and kept up the energy level right till the evening’s rousing final number, Kai Men Jian Shan (Straightforward)?

But really, what’s in a name? A-mei, or Amit, by any other name, would be just as entertaining.

(ST)