The Storm Warriors

The Pang Brothers

The story: Powerful warriors Whispering Wind (Ekin Cheng) and Striding Cloud (Aaron Kwok) have to prevent the evil Lord Godless (Simon Yam) from taking over China in this adaptation of a story from Ma Wing Shing’s comic series Fung Wan. The reclusive Lord Wicked (Kenny Wong) agrees to instruct Wind in the path of evil to boost the latter’s skills, while master pugilist Nameless (Kenny Ho) helps Cloud create a new style of sword-fighting.

It is comforting to know that in this fickle and ever-changing world, there are some things people can still count on – such as lovingly art-directed hairstyles in a Fung Wan movie.

In 1998’s The Storm Riders, Aaron Kwok sported electric blue curls while Ekin Cheng had luscious flowing locks. This time round, Kwok has ditched the dye and gone for a perm that adroitly frames his face while Cheng is still keeping to his battle- tried-and-tested coiffure.

But all that hirsute detail is not just for show – it is also an important signifier. After all, only highly- skilled martial artists can afford to devote that much time and effort to maintaining their hairdos.

Even Kenny Ho as the legendary Nameless gets to strut his stuff in front of a wind machine, tresses billowing heroically.

While the hair motif is familiar, what has improved from 11 years ago are the special effects. The Pang brothers, taking over from Andrew Lau (Infernal Affairs, 2002) at the helm, seem to have benefited from their Hollywood sojourn and their exposure to top-level computer-generated imagery (CGI).

The special effects in The Storm Riders were sometimes cheesy, particularly when seen in retrospect. Here, in addition to punching up the fight scenes and translating the look and feel of a comic book onto film, the CGI has been used to create spectacular vistas, as epic as the tale that is unfolding.

Given the fairly straightforward story, the directors do a good job with pacing and keeping the film flowing, right up to the protracted climactic battle with Cloud and Wind in which every trick from stylised freeze frames to extreme close-ups to blurred motion sequences a la Wong Kar Wai’s Ashes Of Time (1994) is thrown onscreen.

With all that technical wizardry going on, Kwok and Cheng do not have to do too much heavy- lifting in the acting department. Cheng, at least, has more to do as Wind has to pay a high price for venturing down the path of evil while the laconic Cloud lets his sword do most of the talking.

Chu Chu (Tang Yan), who is devoted to Cloud, is another character who reappears from The Storm Riders (then played by Shu Qi). But her presence here is token, like that of Second Dream’s (Charlene Choi). The women are merely foils for the grander drama played out by the men.

Some have criticised this film for being too similar stylistically to 300 (2007), Zack Snyder’s hit movie adaptation of a graphic novel about a key battle between the Spartans and the Persians.

While the two share a visual resemblance, The Storm Warriors trumps 300 in one respect: In contrast to the uber machismo and humourlessness of the Spartan flick, Warriors does not take itself too seriously.

Just check out those hairstyles.

(ST)