A shameless magpie, Wong, and his influence feel weirdly relevant to Yen and his three credited co-writers’ understanding of the wuxia genre. (Yen also credits Wong with bringing “Sakra” to his attention) Rather than try to modernize the dialogue or update the visual language of Cha’s novel, Yen and his collaborators have made their characters speak and move like the protagonists of an unabashedly pulpy costume drama. They wistfully lecture each other about filial piety and social responsibility whenever they’re not practicing neatly labeled action moves, like the Powerful Vajra Palm. The action scenes are good, too, of course. Yen’s well-balanced combination of physics-defying wire stunts, dizzying camera movements, and computer-enhanced imagery sometimes makes “Sakra” look like lavishly animated panels from a comic book.
With “Sakra,” Yen has made a movie to his exacting standards. You might already believe that a long-haired Yen could decimate a battalion of heavies, launching them into the air like ragdolls. What “Sakra” adds to Yen’s repertory is a fully-realized character who, like his starch-stiff take on martial arts master Ip Man, doesn’t talk or carry himself like a normal person. Qiao drinks tea with the men he’s about to trounce, to show them that there are no hard feelings. He also sometimes laughs mirthlessly and proclaims stuff like, “I'm defending not only this land but also the righteous way of the world!”
Hongkongers might balk at Yen’s on-screen humblebrag preening, especially when Qiao laments, "The world has descended to chaos because of shameless people like you!” I can’t blame them, even if I was also moved by the conclusion of Qiao and Azhu’s romance subplot. Yen doesn’t exactly swing for the fences here, but “Sakra” still lands exactly where its multi-hyphenate star needs it to.
Now playing in theaters and available on digital platforms on April 18th.
ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7s7vGnqmempWnwW%2BvzqZmq52mnrK4v46smKSqkWK6sMLInmSrnaaesrh5kWlpbA%3D%3D