2.5/5 stars
Packed to the rafters with rugged heroes, duplicitous villains, terrifying monsters and relentless action, Double World has all the trappings of an epic adventure. So why is the Hong Kong filmmaker Teddy Chan Tak-sum’s first directing effort since 2014’s Donnie Yen vehicle Kung Fu Jungle such a chore to watch?
Now streaming on iQiyi in mainland China and Netflix in the rest of the world, this effects-laden adaptation of online video game Zhengtu features so many characters, each on their own quest for power, revenge or enlightenment, that their on-screen skirmishes often come second to their battles for adequate screen time.
Chen, probably most acclaimed for 2009’s , reduces this tangled web of intersecting stories to a series of slickly executed, but narratively mechanical, clichés. After all, why include an emotional character moment when we could be watching our heroes battle a dragon or fight to the death inside a burning colosseum?
A fantastical, reimagined version of ancient China is divided into the warring regions of Northern Yan and Southern Zhao. Following an assassination attempt on the young Southern King (Wang Ziyi), the scheming Grand Tutor Guan (Hu Ming) proposes a contest to elect a new grand field martial, who will help restore order to the region. Each of the eight clans will send three contenders to compete in a series of deadly gladiatorial contests in Phoenix City.
Dong Yilong (Henry Lau), an orphan street rat from remote Qingyuan, finds himself nominated to represent his clan alongside Chu Hun (Peter Ho Yun-tung), a world-weary soldier who wields a broken spear. After losing their original teammate en route, they recruit plucky young thief Jinggang (Lin Chenhan) as their third member, and are soon facing off against the kingdom’s most formidable warriors, including Him Law Chung-him’s royal bodyguard.
Into this already crowded arena, screenwriters Liu Fendou and Wen Ning squeeze in Jiang Luxia’s feral assassin and Shi Shi as an almost spectral reminder to Yilong that, while he is there, he must seek out his father’s true identity.
What the film lacks is any real surprises, as Yilong, Chu Hun and the other competitors spin and kick their way through an endless procession of adept, if uninspiring, fight sequences.
The technical craftsmanship throughout Double World is hard to fault, but character development is practically non-existent. It is all well and good to celebrate the film’s surprisingly assured CGI work, but it is wasted effort when the numerous betrayals, revelations and heroic deaths on display fail to stir emotions.
Double World is streaming on Netflix.
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