Shadow (2018)

 

            “Shadow’ is a good example of a Chinese “wuxia” film.  Wuxia films are literally “martial heroes” films.  They are similar to Japanese samurai films.  “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” is in the subgenre.  “Shadow” was directed by Zhang Yimou (“The Flowers of War”).  It was critically acclaimed and was nominated for 12 Golden Horses, winning four for Director, Visual Effects, Art Direction, and Makeup and Costume Design.  It lost for Best Picture and Actor (Deng Chao) and Actress (Sun Li). 

            Once upon a time, the city of Jingzhou was won in a duel between the unbeatable Yang Cang (Hu Jun) and Ziyu.  Years later,  Ziyu proposes a rematch.  Except its not really Ziyu, it’s his shadow.  Ziyu is still recovering from his wounds, but only his wife knows this.  His king does not like the rematch idea and instead wants to make an alliance with the King of Yang, Yang Cang’s employer.  He is offering his feisty sister in a marriage with the Prince of Yang.  Ziyu concocts a plan where the duel will take place as a decoy for a secret assault on Jingzhou by a motley crew of convicts.  But first, Ziyu and his wife have to train the shadow in dueling.  (It bears a resemblance to Antonio Banderas’ “The Mask of Zorro”.  This being a Chinese movie,  Ziyu’s style involves using a metal umbrella!  Yang Cang uses a halberd.  (The movie throws in some yin versus yang bull shit for the intellectuals.)  This leads to a tripartite sequence where the two men duel on a platform on a boat, while the convicts assault the city (repeating crossbows versus umbrellas), while Ziyu and his wife duel on zithers.  Something for everyone.  And then some more crazy shit happens.

            What can you say about a movie that has steel umbrellas and zithers?  It is as bonkers as it sounds, but not in a silly way.  It is entertaining if you know what to expect from a Chinese action movie.  Don’t expect anything approaching reality.  But it’s not just raucous action.  The acting is stellar, especially by Deng Chao.  The characters are interesting.  Unfortunately, the convicts are not developed.  This is not the Chinese “Dirty Dozen”.  It is more like a Zorro samurai movie.  The plot is unpredictable.  It’s a beautiful movie to watch.  The sets are amazing.  The battle and duel take place in the rain, which was a nice touch.

            “Shadow” is not really a war movie, in my opinion.  However, I did enjoy it.  It’s not equal to “Crouching Tiger”, but it certainly has more action aimed at guys.  Just sit back and let it roll.  And drink.

GRADE  =  B  +