You know how long I have neglected this blog when the last post is about 3 weeks ago. I watched this movie a couple of weeks ago but had no time to post about it.
Following the success of and end to the Twilight franchise, Hollywood produced an entirely new movie series with the hope to replicate the success story of the former. This time round, the movie is not about vampires but focuses on witches instead.
Starring Alden Ehrenreich, Alice Englert as the newly paired lovers, Jeremy Irons, Emma Thompson and Viola Davis as the supporting cast, this movie tells the tale of how a newcomer Lena in town was shunned by all others but found love in her classmate Ethan. Touted as the most powerful witch in her family, her true nature will be revealed on her 16th birthday where she will either join the light or dark forces. Before that happens, opposing members of her family were trying their best to convince her to be on their sides.
Judging from the crowd, or rather lack of, at the cinema, I don't think the movie is doing too well. Alden first came across as being whinny when he opened his mouth but eventually was kind of charming. Alice wasn't charismatic and I failed to understand the deep attraction that Ethan had for Lena. Their pairing was rather weird and unconvincing to me, unlike the made-in-heaven Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart pairing. And I felt Emma Thompson's portrayal of the possessed Sarafine seemed too much over the top to me.
I can't wait to see how the subsequent installments will do at the box office.
I have not been posting anything in this blog lately because I was busy posting other posts in my new aquarium blog (aquariumfrenzy.blogspot.sg) after setting up my new marine pico tank since the beginning of the new year.
Anyway, this Chinese-Hong Kong movie production wasn't really what I expected. It was not really a movie on the deadly weapon, used by a group of secret assassins reared by the late Yongzheng Emperor to eliminate his enemies. Rather, it was a movie about the fate of these assassins, who were raised since young to be trained as professional killers, but who fell victim to the Emperor they now served because they were no longer needed and were a stain to be erased from the history of the Qing Dynasty.
Starring actors from mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan, such as Huang Xiaoming, Ethan Ruan, Shawn Yue, Li Yuchun, Jing Boran etc. But I must say this is actually a movie made more for Ethan than Xiaoming, who seemed to have a secondary role as the Jesus-looking rebel. I was dying to see the invincible weapon, made famous in other early TV Taiwan productions, and was instead treated to a story of integrity, betrayal and brotherhood. If you just sit back and enjoy the movie for its cast, production etc, then it would not be as bad as how the critics made it out to be.
